We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we’re here together!
Welcome to the 24 hour pledge!
I’m pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.
For the next 24 hours, let’s not drink alcohol!
I will not drink today, even though Wednesday would sometimes mark the start of my “early weekend” allowing myself to drink.
The early weekend was crazy. It was such an excuse for me to obliterate the majority of my workweek because god knows I was worthless on Monday and part of Tuesday. Did better late Tuesday, crushed Wednesday, and then was down and out for Thursday and Friday.
It didn’t always happen like that. And toward the end, that was really rare. But damn do I remember when I was at my worst. The pain in my head as my alarm blared after a couple of hours of strained sleep. The horror of waking up. The immediate regret, the dread, the feeling that I’d trade anything to be anyone else.
No thanks. Life’s better on this side. It wasn’t easy to get here, and I still face days when I wonder whether this sober person is really me. Did I really make that change? Did I really set those boundaries? Am I really no longer a drinker, something that was core to my friendships, family relationships, and identity?
The answer is yes, so long as I don’t take that next drink. IWNDWYT.
Thanks for sharing. Looks like you’re in a better place! Just keep that in mind if you ever get a craving again. That worked for me some time ago when I thought, hey, I’ve been sober for a while, I can have a try. One very small sip and I felt all urges come back 10 times as bad as before. Scary.
Thanks! And that is scary. It’s definitely easy to forget how fragile this is if we don’t care for it. Glad you’re doing great now.