Day 85: help yourself.

Today I received an encouraging email. In fact, of late, a lot of people have been really cool and supportive of my little mission, saying plenty of nice things, but today's message was particularly positive. It was from Steve, father to my friend Jane, who volunteers on an alcohol help line in NZ (I've mentioned him before). He said that he thinks the blog (my blog!) could be helpful to some of the people calling in, and that he's already recommended it to a few. His colleagues have taken a look too, and might also recommend it. This is great. To think that I could have transformed from a not-so-secretly off the rails party person barely keeping her shit together, to someone helping people discover the awesomeness that is being off the booze and on the ball, is really quite amazing to me. Like, really?! But seriously, if you are reading, and this is helping, then please maintain the habit. Because let's not forget that your reading is helping me too. Focussing every day on the task at hand, and being able to vent when it gets hard, and having some sense that there are other people who can identify in some small way with what I'm up against, it all helps me stick to the plan. What also helps me stick to the plan, let's also not forget, is how good it feels to have a clear head, a clear conscience, and a generally happy outlook again. These are the rewards you get for not giving in. But then, by now, at Day 85, giving in isn't really the point. Not drinking has begun to feel so natural and so good that it's a lot less of a battle. Sure there are moments when a beer or a Veuve seem like more attractive options than a fizzy drink, but behaving like a cool person (as opposed to a cross-eyed, slobbering mess), projecting glowing good health, and waking feeling fresh and happy, kind of seem even more attractive again. Now if I could just get a cool boy to notice how freakin' attractive I am right now... Kidding. Not really. But anyway. Life is a sweet thing and it's worth not boozing your way through all of it. Thank you all for reading, thank you Steve for recommending, and please help yourselves to as much booze-free blog as you desire.