So no judgement here to those who enjoy their wine, beer or cocktails. I was a light drinker for about 30 years and moved up to a moderate to sometimes heavy drinker later in life. 

I got a wakeup call with a stroke on December 24th 2012. Slow learner than I can be at times, it took me another 12 years to see the obvious. That alcohol wasn’t adding to my life in a positive way. I know that’s not true for everyone but when I was honest with myself I had to admit that it was doing more damage than good.

Post-stroke I’ve had to take an impactful list of medications that have side effects of their own, and as the labels clearly say, they don’t mix well with alcohol. I’ve had issues with dizziness, brain fog, and feeling lethargic. In the end it didn’t make sense to add more fuel to the fire.

Roll the tape back 30 years and what I found out about myself is that I have an addictive personality. I was addicted big-time to caffeine for decades. I quit and restarted caffeine no less than 50 times and immediately endured the severe headaches that come along with that, only to start again. I’d rotate between coffee and pop. At its worst, I’d brew a pot of coffee in the morning (I had a coffee pot in my cubical at work) and refill it a few times. If it was diet soda I’d bring in one of those small college refrigerators to work and fill it up with cans of Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. I knew it was getting bad when it wasn’t enough to bring in a 12 pack every couple of days and switched to carrying around a 2 liter bottle with me. All day long. Some of the times I quit it was because I got tired of having to find a restroom every hour.

Alcohol wasn’t the exact same experience for me. Quitting was actually easy. I didn’t have any side effects at all. Didn’t need to go to AA or take one day at a time or any of the 12 steps. I don’t think I fell into the typical alcoholic label because I never craved it. I just enjoyed having some wine with my meals and often times a 2nd glass and maybe a 3rd. That be fine if it were once a week but I seemed to find an excuse to open up a bottle just about every night.

The only thing I miss about it today is having a glass of wine handy on those rare occasions when I’m in the kitchen cooking. Other than that, I’m good. Ordering at restaurants doesn’t bother me. Soda water it is. Deal.

Since retiring I’ve had a goal of betting back into some semblance of shape as well.  Alcohol was dragging me down make me feel tired so that I missed opportunities to exercise because I was just out of energy. Getting fit requires a combo of dietary changes and cardio/physical workouts. With its sugar content, wine wasn’t helping me keep my calorie count down either. 

Everything in moderation? Sure, if you can do it. I had a hard time, but that’s just me. It’s a very personal choice. 

Looking back on a whole year without alcohol I can honestly say my year’s list of accomplishments is way up. I feel better more often and with process thoughts with more clarity. As with caffeine I just tell myself I had a pretty good run with it for a number of years. I used up my lifetime allotment in less than a lifetime so that’s enough I guess. If this helps a reader in some way, great. If not, carry on and do what works for you.