Dry January is nearly over.
Thank goodness.
I’m not opposed to abstaining from alcohol. I’ve been doing so for the last 30 years. Other than an occasional champagne toast, I stopped drinking a long time ago simply because it lacked any appeal for me, and I knew that avoiding alcohol was a healthier way to live.
I’ve been in the midst of Dry January for at least the last 360 months.
But here’s what I haven’t been doing for the last 30 years:
Endlessly talking, bemoaning, bragging, explaining, and otherwise turning my near abstinence from alcohol into a regular, sometimes daily topic of conversation.
Do Dry January if you’d like. I think it’s fantastic that you’re not drinking. In fact, I’d encourage you to do Dry February, too, and maybe Dry March, April, May, and June as well. A friend of mine recently stopped drinking entirely and told me that even though he didn’t drink a lot, eliminating alcohol from his life has made him feel substantially healthier.
And this was a casual drinker in excellent physical shape.
Just imagine what abstinence could do for someone who drinks often and suffers from any number of problems associated with alcohol consumption.
So yes to Dry January! I think it’s weird to stop drinking for 8 percent of the year because it’s a healthier choice and then spend the remaining 92% of the year undoing the benefits of Dry January by returning to your original level of alcohol consumption. Still, I guess that making your body happy for one-twelfth of the year is better than none.
Just please stop telling me about it. Please stop filling my airspace with your meaningless spouting of words related to not drinking alcohol.
It’s boring. It’s repetitive. It’s self-indulgent. It’s catastrophically unoriginal.
Also, as Dry January comes to an end, I really do encourage you to march on, avoiding alcohol altogether or consuming it in much smaller quantities. Despite silly studies that have suggested that a glass of red wine every day is good for your heart, the research is conclusive:
Any amount of regular alcohol consumption has serious negative impacts on your body, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease, liver and kidney disease, immune deficiency, and cancer.
Let’s also be clear that alcohol is not an effective means of relaxation. It creates a temporary feeling of relaxation because of it:
- Slows brain activity, making you feel calm.
- Lowers inhibitions and may reduce stress temporarily.
- Increases levels of GABA (a calming neurotransmitter).
However, these effects are temporary and only mimic the feelings of relaxation. Consuming alcohol to achieve relaxation is actually harmful to your ability to feel relaxed long-term by:
- Increasing anxiety and stress later via “rebound anxiety” as alcohol wears off.
- Disrupting sleep by lowering overall sleep quality, making you more tired and irritable.
- Altering brain chemistry, worsening depression and anxiety over time.
All of you people who keep telling me that they’ll be far more relaxed in February once you can return to alcohol are sadly mistaken.
Also, please stop talking about that, too. It’s also boring.
If you want to relax, far more effective ways include exercise, meditation, listening to music, being in nature, spending time with a pet, and laughing.
These strategies are healthy, long-term means of actually reducing stress and relaxing.
So maybe try one or more of those strategies in February and keep the alcohol on the shelf for another month.
If you do, congratulations.
But please, don’t make it a regular topic of conversation.
