Day #11 of 21

It is interesting to me that as the days roll along I feel myself getting use to a very different routine.

Once upon a time (11 days ago) I had to have a glass of wine or two just to make the evening complete. To be clear having one or two isn’t a problem, but for me it often escalated, just for fun. It became a habit. So did the hangovers.

Now, although the urges are still there, the magnetism isn’t as strong.

Tonight is a good example.

I was thirsty. And in my refrigerator sits a lonely beer. Very cold. Available. No one would have known. I even thought that to myself, that no one has to know. I was actually considering, for a few seconds as I leaned over in the refrigerator, ready to grab that beer, of cheating. But then I thought I’d have to write about it on this blog and it would have reduced the whole meaning of this campaign. I would have failed.

But I didn’t, and grabbed a root beer instead. That was perfectly satisfying.

So with 10 days left, I continue to resist the temptation of all my vices.

And with that, I leave with little to offer except this: tomorrow is day #1 for all of us, so whatever you’d like to change in your life, start there, and you will.

Day #10 of 21

The definition of achievement is a result gained by effort.

So it is with great pride that I declare an official achievement. The last time I went this long without smoking pot or having an alcoholic beverage was when I was around 3 years old. About 50 years.

‘So what?’ one may ask.

For me, it’s an acknowledgment that I can actually say ‘no’ and really mean it. More important, it proves that my partying really did have an effect on my performance… that’s kind of scary.

Nothing really important to say tonight…

Stay tuned to day #11.

Day #9 of 21

So I’m a bit behind… here it is on a Tuesday evening, my 10th day, and I’m writing about yesterday, my 9th day. There’s no rule that says I have to write about yesterday. In fact. who cares about yesterday? Instead, I think I’ll write about tomorrow. Which is really today.

So cheers to the past and present. It’s nice to have those in the bag, isn’t it? It’s something no one can take away from me.

As an update, day #9 was super-productive. I felt renewed energy and put in a solid 12 hour day. My body seems to be responding to its cleansing.

But it’s more than that. My mind… spirit… soul… call it what you want —something is responding inside me— and I haven’t felt this good in years.

Now that’s something. And it’s only the 9th day on this 21 day journey.

Tomorrow is a different story. It always is.

So off to tomorrow. Today. See you on day #10.

Day #8 of 21

Today was the mirror image of yesterday (day #7). I had a huge amount of energy and accomplished more than I have in a week. I cleaned the porch, organized part of my basement and took care of some business. And then I celebrated with hot chicken wings and lemonade at one of my favorite places, Tony Romes in East Aurora.

For a moment I did have an urge for a Belvedere vodka martini (dry, up, olives), but something inside told me otherwise. Within a second or two I shook my head as if ear mites reminded me of my mission.

I also felt I overcame some negative thinking better that I have in the recent past… is it possible that biochemistry and detox are slowly having their effect?

There is still a long was to go in this campaign. 13 more days. Anything can happen. But I plan on staying the course and if I succeed, party on a lakeside beach with a few people I love dearly.

So with a great purpose I pursue day #9… an interesting journey indeed.

Day #7 of 21

So, what was day #7 like?

Thanks for asking. I was quite productive but also took a 2 hour nap late in the day. Now, I love naps. I think it’s good for the soul. It allows me to work late at night when distractions are at their lowest…but my naps almost always come in the late afternoon… so I thought I’d do a little research as to why that may be. I mean, I’m not doing anything bad for my body and I’m tired?

It turns out the body has a very efficient garbage removal system. I’ll give you the nutshell version (it’s a really big nutshell).

It’s called detoxification… better known as detox… a la Brittany Spears and Betty Ford. Look at it this way.

Thelma, my blind dog, spills her water bowl a lot.

If your dog spilled his water bowl all over the floor, you would need to find something to sop up the water with. Right? So you find a towel to do the job. But if you only had one little towel, you may have to go back to the spill several times to remove it… and eventually, you’d have to get a dry towel to really finish the job.

But what if your dog did that several times a day? Every single day. For years.

Trust me… this is really going somewhere.

Now imagine your liver. That’s your towel. The spill is all that tequila, beer, wine, THC, cocaine, magic mushrooms and vodka you ingested last night. But the problem is, your liver can only sop up so much bad stuff… called toxins… that it takes a while before it’s all taken care of. Although the liver is the largest organ in our body (contrary to most male thinking), it also has lots of other things to do besides worrying about the 2 bottles of wine you drank last night. And since we only have one liver, when we drink the next day and the next day… you get the idea… the liver works overtime… lots of overtime. With no vacation. To do that takes lots of energy. And since we only have a certain amount of energy… much of that is sucked up by the liver to do its job.

And so we compensate. We drink lots of coffee… supplements… and pharmaceutical drugs because we’re so depressed about being tired and unproductive. And guess what? The liver has to do the heavy lifting. It’s a giant downward spiral… into hell. OK, maybe not hell.

And sometimes our liver can’t catch up. In fact, imagine taking a perfectly good car and driving it non-stop. The engine never cools, and we’re too busy driving somewhere so we never change the oil. The driving pros would never do that. Shouldn’t drinking pros also know better?

The liver, a most interesting and magnificent piece of engineering, is the same way. In both cases, if we don’t give it a rest and get the maintenance done it crashes. This is known as engine seizure or more to the point, cirrhosis of the liver.

Hmmm. I wonder if that could affect productivity?

Day #6 of 21

What a difference a week makes!

And you know what? It really does.

A week ago, before my holy mission began, I woke up Friday morning with a Thursday night hangover courtesy of Danny’s and friends (of course, totally voluntary by me). I recovered by bouncing against the walls and napping most of the morning. When my daughter called me around noon to tell me Randy Pausch had died that morning, I became very sad. After getting a few hours of poorly executed work done, I headed to my favorite place. My wine rack. Before you can say Slobodan Milosevic, I was pouring my favorite Australian wine (Wolf Blass Cabernet) into a nice shiny wine glass and toasting Randy. Several times.

And then I headed upstairs. To my second favorite place. Actually, it’s kind of a tie with my favorite place, which makes it a co-favorite place. So I went to my intergalactic world headquarters located on the second floor of my castle and parted the curtains to my closet. There, hidden amongst various debris and intellectual property, I pulled out my red plastic bong my kids gave me one christmas. I know what you’re thinking. And yes, I agree wholeheartedly. They should have given me a glass one.

So with no hesitation, and with red wine screaming through my veins and arteries, I gingerly sprinkled generous amounts of Indonesian weed (Bink-Chai) into the bowl and lit a match. The music played, I inhaled some smoke, and once again toasted Randy.

The occasion was death… and I went to town. Ironic, isn’t it?

But I had a great time. In fact, to be honest, i can’t wait ’till I visit that space again. Just not so often next time.

The following day wasn’t any different… in fact, it escalated. By Sunday morning, day #1, I was exhausted.

So here’s what pushed me over the edge… the scary thought that I was spending so much of my time repairing myself just to do it all over again the next night.

Why is this so important right now? Because I have people in my life I’d love to hang around with for a while. Like several decades. I also have many projects I would like to finish (and start). I don’t know how much time I have left but I am sure of one thing… whatever time remains I will enjoy in moderation and accomplishment. And fun. Lots of fun.

What a difference a week makes… indeed.

Day #5 of 21

Today is Thursday… which starts the weekend… unofficially. So in step with that philosophy, my wife (thankfully, she is the DD; by the way, we have zero tolerance for drinking and driving… just to be clear) and I met with several other couples at a local bar to meet and have a few laughs. For many years we have followed this messiah to have a few —sometimes quite a few— beers. So it was with some trepidation that I went out for my weekly beer and wings.

There are only two times that I drink. When the day hasn’t gone too well and I’m a bit down or when things are great and everything is beautiful. Today, I feel great. Lookout.

I walked into Danny’s, a bar-restaurant where older folks hang out; all the familiar faces were there. The bartender slammed a frosty mug in front of me and my friend Tom started to pour sweet, lovely Labatt’s from the pitcher. But I held up my hand and said, ‘Tom, I’m not drinking tonight. In fact, I’m on a 21 day mission of sobriety and this is day 5.’

I spoke with conviction. He laughed. I held firm.

It’s funny how the rest of the evening was similar to all the others I have been a part of… debates on Iraq and politics… and predictions on how many games the Bills would win in 2008. But the strange thing was this. I went home and felt great. Like I was accomplishing something. How silly is that?

Although it was still a good night, the truth must be told. Hot chicken wings and Club Soda doesn’t have the same ring to it.

I made it through my first Thursday night with my friends mocking me lovingly as I drowned my sorrows in Club Soda.

So it’s off to day #6… a Friday… another party night… so we’ll see how it goes.

It’s getting easier to say no.