Crippled finances and the need to give my body a well earned rest after the travails of a wild 2014 have prompted me to pin the month of January as alcohol-free.

I’m not one for making New Years resolutions because more often than not, they fall flat on their arse. However I am a firm believer in the idea of 30 day trials though as a way to assess whether a certain lifestyle change is compatible with long term goals.

Like most 30 something’s I enjoy going out at the weekends. I don’t get shit-faced as much as I used to but certainly still use it as a crutch. On those occasions I do over indulge, the next few days are an absolute write-off. God help anyone within a radius of 3 miles. I’m like a bear with a sore head and the fog only clears 3/4 days later, mid work week.

I don’t foresee much difficulty in going 30 days booze-free. In my twenties, I periodically abstained and had several interesting sober nights en route and even went 7 months tee-total. Instead of it empowering me to come outside my shell and hone my conversation and social skills, I retreated and turned into a bit of a hermit. I couldn’t tolerate noisy bars and drunken friends where the conversation was drivel (6 hours talking in a crowded bar – you’d have to be inebriated to enjoy that).

I can see a point in the future when I do enter a relationship where I might abstain from alcohol altogether, or at least limit my intake to a glass of wine or two at the weekend. But until that point, I’m going to let my hair down for the Christmas period, not put any undue stress or pressure on myself and plan for a happy, healthier year ahead.

Inevitably every one of my friends has mentioned the D word at some point this month before dismissing it entirely in the next sentence. Making a commitment usually brings the same tired reaction:

“Ah yeah. I tried that before. You’ll get bolloxed the first weekend of January”
“It’ll never last” or
“What’s the point? You’re never going to give up booze anyway!”

With that being set, it’ll be nice to press reset and reclaim a few weekends usually lost to hangovers and become a little more productive if only for a month.

Unlike my friends, I’m making a public declaration which holds me more accountable.

IF ANY READERS WOULD LIKE TO JOIN ME IN A DRY JANUARY, THAT WOULD BE GREAT!

Together we can kickstart 2015 with a vegetable smoothie to celebrate.

Or maybe that’s taking it too far!