Well, instead of staying wholly on the wagon, I have kept my resolution on weekdays and bowed to social pressure on the weekend. I drew a parentheses around the first Saturday of the new regime in order to enjoy an evening of beer and music-making. Having established that precedent, I have allowed myself a glass or two on subsequent Saturdays and Sundays.
The difference is that I don't have a committed partner in the experiment this time. Another difference is that I'm doing it for health reasons. From this point of view, partial abstinence is still an improvement and worth something. From a strictly moral point of view, one slip contaminates the purity of the whole enterprise.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Back on the wagon
Today I vowed to begin four weeks' abstinence from alcohol in order to lose weight. Shedding a few pounds was one achievement of the last period on the wagon. I undid it quickly though by returning to beer and abstaining from running.
In the five and a half months since I allowed myself to drink again, I have hardly thought about my experiment in abstinence. It was a different regime, to be sure, but it didn't change my consumption patterns at all. It seems I have two states: ON or OFF the wagon. Fortunately for me, the OFF state is compatible with family life and professional responsibilities. Drinking is part of an equilibrium that I seek to return to unless it's unavailable, in which case I make do.
In the five and a half months since I allowed myself to drink again, I have hardly thought about my experiment in abstinence. It was a different regime, to be sure, but it didn't change my consumption patterns at all. It seems I have two states: ON or OFF the wagon. Fortunately for me, the OFF state is compatible with family life and professional responsibilities. Drinking is part of an equilibrium that I seek to return to unless it's unavailable, in which case I make do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)