If You’re Attempting A Dry January, What I Learned When I Gave Up Alcohol For Lent
I’m seeing lots of people vowing to observe Dry January, and posting their misery at how hard it is to stop drinking.
I’ve been there. Last year, I gave up alcohol for Lent, and it definitely opened my eyes.
My revelations weren’t so much about my own drinking. They were about how people react when they hear that you aren’t drinking. And, you might be surprised to learn that some folks take your choice very personally.
The decision to give up alcohol for Lent had nothing to do with an indulgent Mardi Gras, or a holiday binge.
It came after a funny result on a liver function test. My doctor told me not to be alarmed, but to stop drinking for four to six weeks, and then repeat the test after my body was completely free of alcohol.
A friend noted that Lent was coming up, a time when I usually give up something like coffee or chocolate. Why not skip alcohol for Lent, he suggested, and have the test right after Easter?
I’m a one-and-done drinker anyway, so I figured that an alcohol-free Lent would be a simple matter. My first step would be to have just one drink a day until Ash Wednesday arrived.
