Two Weeks Left. Are you with me?
22/04/12 • 2 Comments

It\’s nearly the end but what have I learnt? Photos get attention even if they are unrelated. Here\’s the sunset as I drove home the other day. Seriously I think the biggest thing I\’ve learnt is that for me abstinence isn\’t the way. Not being able to drink for three months has led to me craving it. This is crazy because before it I never wanted it, just occassionally had a drink with my dad or with mates. When I finish I am going to have a drink but only because I want to. I have learnt that I was always looking for an excuse not to drink. I said I was driving, tired or some other crap so I didn\’t have to explain that I didn\’t want to. I now realise that not saying no reinforces the drinking culture more. It\’s time I stood on my own feet and [...]

Six weeks down and my 21st Birthday.
26/03/12 • 0 Comments

In my earlier posts I have talked about how I don\\\’t really drink and that I just wanted to see what would happen when I imposed a ban on alcohol altogether.  It\\\’s been an enlightening six weeks, I\\\’ll say that. I\\\’ve had some major changes to my perceptions and decided on some post HSM changes. When I started my HSM, I\\\’d just been given my new Open QLD licence. I didn\\\’t realise the significance at the time but I had essentially lost my biggest excuse not to drink, that I was driving. Last weekend one of my close friends celebrated her 21st and so we all went for a fancy party. One of my friends offered me a drink and fell back on my \\\”Can\\\’t man, gotta drive home.\\\” He proceeded to remind me about the Open rules..bla bla bla….  Basically I realised that it was no longer an excuse. [...]

Day 22- Upbringing
27/02/12 • 2 Comments

I’ve never been one to drink, it never seemed that special. Growing up I didn’t really see much alcohol apart from grandparents at Christmas. As I entered my teenage years, I was exposed to the roudy drunken parties of my neighbours and their more inhibited sides. I never really grasped the idea that alcohol helps people loosen up. On two occassions I have had a couple of drinks to appease others at a party. Both times left me feeling hostile and wanting to leave what were really great parties. I felt trapped by the booze because now that I had had a few drinks I couldn’t leave which just made things worse. I recently talked to my mum about her younger drinking and why she stopped. She told me of two drinking experiences that shaped her drinking. When she was 16, she drunk until she passed out at home with [...]

Day 10- Ramblings and Revelations
16/02/12 • 1 Comment

  So after agreeing to do the HSM I haven’t really had any adventures where alcohol has been present. I’ve been resting up the last week or so, spending some time thinking about my future and a little about how alcohol is involved in that. My thoughts were scattered so apologies for the scattered nature. It’s been good but as I suspected the knowledge that I cannot drink has influenced my thoughts a little when out.  I went out for dinner with some friends the other night and thought “oh they serve alcohol here, that’s different… if only I wasn’t doing this HSM I would have one.” The reality is that if I hadn’t been doing the HSM I wouldn’t have even had one. Somehow by telling myself I couldn’t rather than I didn’t want to, I felt the urge to rebel against my self imposed restrictions. It’s kind of [...]

Day 1- I’m starting to see what my HSM is about.
06/02/12 • 3 Comments

Today I decided to sign up for a three month challenge to support a friend. I consider my drinking pretty inconsequential. In the last twelve months I have had less than twenty drinks and I’ve never had more than three in a day. Lately I have considered cutting out alcohol completely because I just don’t feel I need it.  I started to realise that there is more to the challenge for me than not drinking. While I filled out the registration it started to dawn on me, I was making a commitment not to drink for three months. While I don’t think removing alcohol will be an issue for me, the commitment that I have just agreed to worries me. In a lot of different parts in my life I have felt easily feel trapped and tried to get out of the commitment.  I am I want to overcome this fear of [...]