Sober Reflection Journal: Week 2

We are halfway through Dry January and this is officially the longest I've gone without a drink since high school. I'm feeling good! Here are some of my notes and observations from the past week.

• While I struggled to fall asleep the first week, I'm now sleeping like a baby. I'm almost sleeping too well though as it's been harder to get out of bed in the morning. Whenever I drank in the past, the quality of my sleep would be so shitty I'd end up waking up before my alarm. Now I'm hitting that snooze button a half dozen times before I can drag myself out of bed.
  
  
• I sharted my pants last week. When I was drinking a lot of beer, sharts were rare but I wasn't surprised when they happened. But I assumed without booze my poops would be rock solid this month. I assumed wrong. Sharting your pants as a sober adult is very demoralizing. I contemplated giving up right then and there as what's the point of not drinking if you're still gonna end up throwing boxers in the trash?
  
  
• In the past I've seen people get annoyed when a Barstool employee complains about the Sunday Scaries. I get it. Besides the occasional unhinged co-worker trying to murder you with a High Noon can, working at Barstool is much less stressful than a normal offie job so why are they complaining? However, the dread of going back to work is only one of the reasons people experience the Sunday Scaries. Much of the anxiety that comes with them is simply due to alcohol withdrawal. If you get hammered on Friday night, then drink most of the day on Saturday, you're gonna be in rough mental shape come Sunday regardless of how much you love your job. That being said, for the first time in forever I haven't been getting the Sunday Scaries which has been nice. I still feel much groggier on Monday mornings than any other day of the week though so if anyone knows a cure for "the mondays" let me know.
• Giphy Images.

  

  Advertisement

  Giving up alcohol has forced me to reflect on my other excessive habits. Most notably, TOON BLAST.

  

  I was never a big cell phone game guy. But then the Pandemic hit, and with everyday life slowly grinding to a halt and media fear mongering ramping up, I needed an outlet to take my mind off reality. One day I noticed my gf playing toon blast, decided to give it a go, and never looked back. LEVEL 3264 BABY!

  

  It's been a wonderful coping mechanism. Feeling anxious? Play some toon blast and you'll feel better. Feeling angry? Chill out with some toon blast. Unmotivated to work? Blast some toons instead! Bored? Toon blast. With a little help from Toon Blast I've been able to suppress every negative emotion I've had the last two years but it's time to rip off the band-aid! I first realized I may have a problem when I hit up the game's chatroom on a long train ride.

  
  

  Advertisement

  Nothing good can come from me talking to 9 year olds online. It's time for me to confront my problems head on instead of drowning them in a sea of colorful blocks. Or at the very least pick up a more productive hobby. I will be officially giving up the game come February. Wish me luck.

• I've actually been enjoying the occasional non-alcoholic beer. I was under the impression I only drank for the buzz but a cold beer sure is refreshing! (it's not too late to sponsor me Heineken)Don't worry though I haven't been sneaking in any O'Douls, which are actually 0.4% alcohol, as I refuse to cut any corners this month.

• I feel like Dry January has been especially easy so far seeing I haven't been to a bar, house party, club, sporting event, or other activity that would normally involve me drinking a bunch. I know sober people who still go to bars with friends and just sip soda water limes the whole night and I'd like to see if I could pull that off before the month is over. Going to a sports bar for the playoff games next week may be the perfect opportunity to challenge myself.

• Instead of going to bars I've spent my weekends riding bikes, cooking, eating weed edibles (it's dry January not Sober January), watching movies, reading, and checking out an Italian food theme park.

  I'll check in with you guys next week. The finish line is in sight!