I'm really glad
By now, you’ve probably read the hype about dry January. There’s a lot of noise on the internet about it, especially right around the new year. People have just come off a big night of drinking and are usually looking for a reason to lay off the booze for a while…because they feel like total garbage. The decision is made in a horrible hungover state of, “please kill me now”. Hey, no judgment, I’ve totally been there.
However…let’s cut to the chase. It’s not as easy as it seems to take an entire month off the adult beverage of your choice. Allow me to explain.
Two weeks in, right when I start feeling phenomenal, I want to celebrate with a big as my head glass of wine. Suddenly hipster Kate who thinks dry January was really neat is now sad sober Kate who feels dull AF. It goes from being the BEST. MONTH. EVER, to omgpleasepassmethepinot in a matter of two weeks.
WHY?!
Because my friends, that’s the cycle of change. Just when we think we’ve got a handle on something we’re trying to change, life throws us a curve ball. That doesn’t mean we have to give up and stick our heads in a venti cup of pinot. It just means we have to get a little creative in how we roll with the punches.
You may be thinking, “okay, it’s the 3rd day of January…why is she talking about this now?” I’m talking about the worst of times RIGHT NOW so you can be prepared. Trust me, if you’re new to the dry January train, this will happen to you.
About two weeks into the magical sober month of happiness, you’ll be faced with an event. A birthday party. An especially crappy day. An especially happy day. It’s raining. It’s sunny. It’s snowing. It’s not snowing. You get the drift, right? We usually are faced with something around this time period where we just want to be an adult and treat ourselves to an adult drank because we can #adulting. It really doesn’t matter if it’s a life altering event or just another Winesday Wednesday, we want to go back to the way things were, dangit.
But you guys are magical unicorns of power. You know this epic time of trial is on the horizon, so you’re gonna be prepared for this. What can you do now to help your future sober self? If you think barricading the door is an answer, you haven’t met me and what I would do for a good glass of red.
This is what you CAN do now to help your self when you really need it:
- Stock up on non-alcoholic fancy pants drinks. La Croix. The fancy kind. Treat yourself to the Pomme Baya and the Blackberry and Cucumber. This is what you’ll turn to when you’re needing a fix or feeling like you’ll need to treat yourself to something special. Put it in a really nice wine glass during an event so you can feel extra cool.
- Invest in a diffuser and get yourself some lavender oil to diffuse. There are going to be times when you seriously need to chill out. A lot of people experience increased feelings of anxiety when they’re abstaining from alcohol. This is because you are able to feel all of your feels 100 times more accurately when you’re a sober sally. Sometimes this isn’t fun, and sometimes, you will totally feel like you need a hug from your mom. The soothing properties from lavender can really help with this.
- While you’re riding the lavender love train, grab yourself some lavender honey tea to help you relax at night. I’m on my second cup and love the calming, natural, properties of this tea. My grocery store locally doesn’t carry it, so I stock up whenever I’m out of town.
- Get comfortable saying no in five different ways. Sit down and journal out ways to tell people you love NO. There will be times when you need to decline a drink at a get together. Some people like to have a fake cocktail in hand or whatever, but I prefer to be honest. Say no. Get comfortable saying it and laying out the boundaries early on. You can only fib for so long before someone asks you something really uncomfortable like, “ARE YOU NOT DRINKING BECAUSE YOU’RE PREGNANT?!” So don’t make it weird, and be straight up from the beginning.
- Jot down the reasons why you want to stay sober this month. Whatever they are, put them on paper. There’s research to prove that once you get things down on paper you hold yourself accountable to them.
- Grace. Practice it right now. There’s nothing I can link to you about this one. But you’ll need it. Give yourself some grace, okay? You’re doing something really hard. Most adults drink. It’s part of our social culture. It’s part of our lives. You’re going AGAINST the norm. If you have feelings of anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, frustrating…give yourself the grace to experience those feelings and talk to someone you trust about them. This is your time to take for yourself, so take it.
This is a month to reset, recharge, and reconnect for me. Although I look forward to this time, it can be really tough. I tend to look back on things and REALLY feel all of the feels during this time. For this reason, I’m gentle with myself…and you should be too.
If you’re wanting to connect over this month, drop me a line at hello@katespitzphotography.com. I’m taking questions for the next post that you can leave here in the comments or in my inbox!
Here’s to another day!
