Last Friday was 90 days and I started it with a 05:45 cycle for an hour with a mate, to return for breakfast with my kids before heading off to work with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. This is my new routine a few days each week and I have never before done anything like this, even had breakfast with my family midweek as I was normally out the door to work. This sounds great and it is! The changes I have experienced since taking up the 90 day challenge are numerous, some obvious, some subtle, some unexpected, some a given.
I have had unwavering support from my wife, who now drinks less as a result of me not drinking, and most people are now used to it and it doesn’t get a mention all the time. This is good too as it has now almost become the norm for me, no big dramatic reaction to the proclamation of sobriety and that’s how it should be!
Was Your First 90 Days Difficult?
If I am honest – and honesty is all I have experienced in the OYNB Facebook Group – I didn’t find the 90 days incredibly difficult. I was determined and had even managed 5 or 7 weeks a couple of years ago. I know if I set my mind to a task or challenge I am good for it, but the OYNB emails were a great help with tips on how to change your habit or default (I’ve had a crap day so therefore I deserve a few beers…’), etc.
My goal was to do 90 days and change my relationship with alcohol, i.e. be content maybe with the odd beer or two, be happy and able to call it at that and either go home or have a non-alcoholic drink.
Basically find an ‘off’ button, a button that had eluded me (conveniently so?) for 25 years.
Why Did You Take the OYNB Challenge?
Why Did You Take the OYNB Challenge? Many a conversation with my wife during the 90 days has led to honest reflection and some awkward discussions about times past when I drank to excess and made a mess of a night, an event, alienated people because they knew how I would end up, etc., etc. The most difficult realization was that I didn’t care enough about people to stop getting into a state time and time again due to my drinking to excess. For context, the worst I got was very drunk, sometimes argumentative and end up behaving like an a**hole, nothing more, but if you are on the receiving end of a messy drunk it becomes tiresome and unbearable and no fun to be around.
Have You Seen Changes in Your Life?
I think the recent conversations were necessary and part of the journey. Call is a cleansing if you will, getting rid of some old stuff and making space for some new mindsets and clear thinking. I didn’t set out to never drink again and I don’t know where I sit with that, oddly enough I find myself feeling some pressure.
Last week I managed to get out on my bike 5 days out of 7…never before have I had the want, the enthusiasm or the fitness to do so. I needed to do this as I prepare for my post 90 day challenge of 160+km in one of the most picturesque parts of the world. I wasn’t going to take on 6hrs or so in the saddle and not cross the finish line, so I am in a really good place here!
Will You Let Booze Back in Your Life?
Will You Let Booze Back in Your Life? In a couple of weeks we head away to visit friends in Europe. Nothing like having a cold one while sitting al fresco with my friend, my drinking partner for 25 years. I have floated the idea of having a beer with him in my head and find myself in between continuing for another 90 days, or having just a beer or two with a mate. I think I am strong enough to stick to 1 or 2. I feel the 90 days has given me the strength to find my ‘off’ button, there’s a part of me saying ‘don’t do it, keep going as you are, look at the benefits you’ve realized! Not sure where I go from here, but not fretting either.
There is a little pressure building up here, but it’s all positive, immensely so. The change is superb, the results are huge, what a challenge! Take on 30, 90, 365 days or life – whatever you decide to do, just do it!
Thanks to the OYNB team and the courageous people in this community who are knocking it out of the park day after day after day.
Keep it going all and good luck!
OYNB Hero
An entrepreneur and former senior oil broker, Ruari gave up drinking after excessive consumption almost cost him his marriage, and worse, his life. Going alcohol-free improved his relationships, career and energy levels, leading to him founding OYNB to provide a support network for others.
