The year is over, my liver is healed and it’s high time to draw a conclusion. Part 8 of my alcohol free column.
In 2019 I actually managed not to touch a single drop of alcohol. Of course, this calls for a conclusion. It’s about what a whole year without alcohol – or even better: 12 (twelve!) months – of being completely sober has taught me.
All parts of the column:
- 7 reasons why I don’t want to drink alcohol for a year!
- This is how I feel after a month without alcohol!
- Why my alcohol break is actually withdrawal
- This is how the women’s world reacted to my renunciation of alcohol
- This is how my life has changed after six alcohol-free months
- This is how my first bachelor party went without alcohol
- I almost fainted on that horror day
- 7 things I learned in a year without alcohol
- After a year of abstinence – why I drink alcohol again
1) I was emotionally more stable
No, I’m not emo (or emu), I was a pretty balanced person even before I went alcohol free. Nevertheless, I found that I was in the same mood almost continuously on “normal” days last year. Admittedly, I rarely felt really euphoric, but instead I felt a comforting, reliable contentment that surrounded me in most situations in life. When I drink, my life is more like a moving sine wave. There are clear mood swings upwards, but unfortunately also downwards. Who doesn’t know it, please, the post-booze blues? 2019 was more like a straight line at a very passable feel-good level.
2) I was more sophisticated
Keyword level: Where no alcohol is drunk, the level (almost) does not sink into the basement. And if then more consciously and controlled.
In other words, 2019 was a year with far less pangs of conscience than the previous years. I almost never woke up and thought, What the hell did I do yesterday? No wonder, since the (drinking) devil remained locked out of my life. I just messed up a lot less and was able to stand up to 99 percent of my decisions a day later.
3) I was more authentic
I imagine that in 2019 I only did what I really felt like doing much more often. An example: In the last few years, my friends have repeatedly carried me away to partying in a hip club in Berlin. The music there is always good, but the people are arrogant. In order to have a good time despite the Gucci scarf servants, I filled up properly at the bar. Expensive and thus only bought fun.
Last year my friends went to the store again, only this time without me. Of course it’s also because clubs are the boss of non-alcoholic entertainment, but I went to a (few) dance clubs in 2019. That’s why my conclusion is: You’re more authentic without alcohol.
4) I was clearer
Maybe you’re more authentic because you’re clearer – and because you can see more clearly what you want and don’t want.
Most people probably know that. You haven’t had anything to drink for a weekend or a few weeks and you immediately feel fresher in the upper room. This sense of clarity only increases with every week that one goes without drinking. You think faster, suddenly recognize many more connections, look at things more deeply and know intuitively what would be best for you next. It sounds frightening, but it is true.
This feeling of intellectual superpower is particularly reinforced when you’re on the Berlin subway at night at weekends. That’s usually the moment when you ask yourself: Do I always seem so embarrassing and primitive? change of topic!
5) Dates were also possible without alcohol
It is well known that alcohol makes you euphoric, talkative and courageous. Alcohol makes us less picky, especially since it’s usually drunk in dimly lit bars. So it sounds like the perfect little helper to face a total stranger.
And of course, for the above reasons, in the past I have never given up alcohol when dating. As a rule, I even put a beer or two in BEFORE to calm my nerves and/or to arouse more desire for small talk deserts.
None of that was possible in 2019, but I now know that dates can also be done sober. There’s a very simple reason for that: Because I didn’t drink alcohol, we had an issue right away. Because when a man orders a non-alcoholic beer on a date, it obviously doesn’t go uncommented.
Another advantage: You don’t first drink to someone nice or likeable, but in the few hours you get to know the person as they are (or pretend to be). Because there was no drunken veil over the perceptual machinery in 2019. I myself stayed much calmer and more controlled, but I don’t want to kid anyone: Dates with alcohol may be less authentic, but they still go easier.
6) Being sad also passed without alcohol
Even as an adolescent you learn it from films: if life has been rough on you, you reach for alcohol as a consolation and simply wash away your sorrow. And sure, alcohol numbs and makes us forget for a few hours why we gave it our full attention that day. But it is just as clear that the worries and sadness are still there the following day, only unfortunately now amplified by the shit hangover.
I’m a lucky person who leads a happy life – but 2019 was a low point for me. One day in September my last relationship ended (although the ending came as no surprise) and as soon as I got home I found out that one of my best friends had almost died in a car accident. The double whammy hit me hard and yes, after my nightly visit to the hospital I would have preferred to have a beer and schnapps. I didn’t – and I’m proud of it to this day. Because that’s what it was: the maturity test of my No-Suff-Challenge. Sadness and horror were still there the next day, but also a clear mind that knew what to do now.
7) Weekends felt like they were twice as long
Last but not least: As a person who works 40 hours a week, you have little time and have to postpone a lot of things to the weekend. If you – like me before 2019 – has a good draw on the glass on Friday and/or Saturday, the weekend is unfortunately shorter than one would like. Starting with either sleeping in late (which I can’t do anymore) or waking up too early and being exhausted for the rest of the day. So much of what you had planned for your two days off is left behind.
My weekends in 2019 were completely different: Every Saturday – even if I was gone the night before – I woke up with a clear head and was able to start the day straight away. Finally, bureaucratic homework was done, I went to sports regularly, was able to meet more people overall and also read a lot more than in previous years. In one sentence: I put off less and just did it!
That’s why my overall conclusion is: I’m very happy that at the end of 2018 the crazy idea of giving up alcohol for a whole year came to my mind. In any case, it was the right decision. Next time I’ll explain why I’m still drinking alcohol again.
And if you didn’t get around to insulting me for my project last year (also because of too much alcohol), you can still do so by sending an e-mail to info@.