Dry January or Sober January or Sober 30, there are a lot of different names for this month. But one thing that it can be called, in my opinion, refreshing!

This past New Years Eve at around 10:30 p.m., I had my last drink. Forever? Probably not. For a while, yes. And on New Years day, I started Dry January.

So what is Dry January? In a nut shell, one doesn’t drink for the entire month. Simple right? Well, for some, yes and for some, no. I realized that I needed to take a break from drinking. I need to get my s*&t together.

Still not convinced that Dry January is really a thing? Take a look at the following articles that have just been written about the topic: Time, Self, ABC, Market Watch, Wall Street Journal & The Washington Post.

Are there benefits to not drinking? Absolutely. Where do I begin? Health? Finances? No waking up the next morning wondering if I ticked off someone or said something inappropriately?

And I’m lucky. I am lucky because I have a great support system around me, that encourage me of those benefits. Now, I’ll be honest too, I have not had any struggles with not drinking either. Meaning, I haven’t thought about just having a drink.

I realized that I needed to make a change. And I think that I have. I have at-least started to make a change. Here are a few positives that I’ve noticed in just 7 short days: More energy; Sleeping better; More patience; More aware and mindful of things and that is very important to me.

In the last 6 months, I started to learn more and practice mindfulness and meditation using the Calm app. If you haven’t used the app, I highly recommend the website or the app, because they are great tools. But yesterday as I was cooking, I kept feeling that something was off. And it hit me as I reached for my bottle of water, it wasn’t a glass of wine or beer. When I cook, I have a few drinks.

To me, cooking is relaxing, but I always had a beer or two or wine when I cooked and yesterday, it was water. And funny thing, I was just as relaxed with water, as I would have been with alcohol. But, I recognized it. I recognized the difference and continued to cook.

As my wife and I were talking about our day yesterday, I shared with her the article from Time and we talked about how we had both over the last few months, had one or two, too many to drink. We talked about the importance of taking time off and reflecting on things.

She told me that she was proud of me! She teared up when I shared the realization of grabbing water instead of alcohol and quickly identifying that. We also talked about February 1st and if I would have a drink?

I did not and nor do I have any answer to that question, because I don’t know? I love a great glass of wine or a good craft beer. But one thing that I can say without a doubt, is that Dry January has taught me that it should be a single or at the most, two, of those beverages and that it doesn’t have to be everyday either.

I am committed, once I get past this sinus infection, to working out 3 – 4 days a week. I have also looked at previous bank statements for the month to see what we were spending on alcohol and breaking that up into 4 payments and putting that money into savings as well. So there are several benefits.

7 days down and a lifetime to go. I really think that doing this, has really opened my eyes to a lot of things and has already started to help me change and make myself into a better father and husband and friend.

To all of those doing the Dry January challenge, be strong and stay focused.