You’re stealing my thunder Dry July – this was meant to be all about MY teetotaling journey.  And my new buddy, HSM.  However, you are everywhere.  Flaunting good causes and raising cash, getting everyone on the wagon.  Didn’t you know I was starting this in July?  What was wrong with ‘Remember September’?

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I’ve just passed the 1 month milestone and got to say it feels good.  The clarity of mind you get about an alternative (not getting pissed) is immense.  Disappointingly, it appears I am succeeding on the no alcohol front, but I have found that everything else just doesn’t fall into place as a result.  There is much more work for me to do before I finish my HSM.  More on that later.

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Jimmy, you could’ve been a champion, you coulda been anything. 

Jimmy, mate ah… Jimmy, you coulda been anything. 

Workin’ on the railway, leanin’ on a broom,

Over at the early opener tryin’ to find some room. 

…well, it went something like that.

It’s part of a song from a double album of Australiana that my Grandpa sent me while I was working in China for a year.  I shouldn’t remember the words because it was a quite a dud song, but I have recounted the words many times.

The ideas of opportunity wasted, laziness, and beer has sat so comfortably with me at times that it coundn’t not be sung with gusto.

And this is why I started HSM last week – to give opportunities that float by a good crack.   In the past, my love for a big day/night out has left me ‘leanin on the broom’ on way…way too many days.  So HSM is an experiment to see what happens when you are up and at ’em seven days a week.  Lets see how much awesomeness(nice one, Chris) can be experienced with family, friends, work, play, and a clear head.  

Co-incidentally, I started the HSM in the last couple of days on a trip back to China, the place where I had worked and taken my graduate diploma in drinking-to-get-drunk before.  The plan was to start the HSM precisely on the Monday when I returned, but instead I started early – be it only by a few days.  A little victory to work off, me thinks.  

So it’s 3 months or until I’ve learnt enough, whichever comes last.

Jimbo