NORMALLY I DON’T LIKE to put time-frames on events.

It implies that you’re waiting for a future moment, some golden landmark where you can take stock and tell everyone how great you are and then sigh before looking at the next timed milestone, hoping you won’t lapse.

Nothing wrong with planning ahead but when a decision is made to quit alcohol for life, I prefer not to count in days or months.

I smoked a cigarette ten years ago and have no appetite to do so again. Should I then declare myself smoke free for 220 months?

I’ll leave the counting to others if they feel it will help.

I’ve mentioned in previous articles that when I drink, I DRINK. Typically no more or less than your next average Irish weekend binge drinker (which doesn’t make it right or normal). I’ve finally had enough and I’ll go into the detailed reasons in a future post but needless to say, my reasons are the same as most people’s. A desire to improve my health, productivity, eliminate hangovers, build natural confidence etc.

I have enough drunken stories to last a lifetime.

In the last three months I’ve been sober and dry in Colombia, Miami Beach and London for the Rugby World Cup surrounded by drinkers and offers of alcohol. I enjoyed those occasions so much more than I ever could have had I been drunk which would invariably have been the case. There has been resistance from friends and families as they naturally question my timing and motivation encouraging to start on a new month or post-tournament..

Funny how if you quit a habit like smoking you’re labelled as a hero, but if you give up booze you’re labelled as a bit of a freak such is its influence in our society, yet responsible for 2.5 million deaths annually.

In the past few months I’ve managed to complete my third novel which I would never have done had I continued drinking. Disgusting hangovers killed my productivity and a Friday binge would wipe out my weekend. My sleep deprived and poisoned body wouldn’t be right again until Tuesday at the earliest.

I found a few excellent resources that have logically explained the damage I had been doing to my body which I’d highly recommend for those interested in reducing or eliminating alcohol from their lives.

I stumbled upon soberistas.com which has some very compelling testimonials. Through the site I discovered a book by Jason Vale called ‘Kick the Drink Easily‘. It helped reinforce my belief especially in the first few days that my decision was the right one.

There is also a lot of strong evidence in the book which dispels some of the myths around living a sober, alcohol-free life.

I’m not interested in pushing sobriety on people who are perfectly happy with their own lifestyle choices.

I wasn’t happy with my relationship with alcohol which is why I needed to finally address the underlying issues.

Living in Ireland, there never seemed to be an alternative to getting wasted at weekends. Slowly more people are waking up to the damaging effects highlighted by Hollywood stars who gave it up, including Colin Farrell, Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper.

At the very least, it helps to educate our Irish youths that choosing sobriety needn’t be a handicap and if successful, attractive celebrities in the public eye are thriving in their career and personal life as a result of their ‘unpopular’ decision, then maybe that’s something worth considering.