More Than a Contest

Before New Year's I started to think about what it would be like to never drink again. After pondering about it I realized that there was nothing to lose by giving it a try besides a few hangovers. Now I wouldn't consider myself to be a frequent drinker in the first place, but when I do it is always the same. It always starts off with a couple of drinks to get buzzed... take down a couple more (this is where the fun starts)... a couple more ("drunk and lively" to "drunk and tired" within 2 hours).... finally, hungover, in regret, and $20 to $30 poorer. Total fun time is about 3 to 4 hours and the token of reward is nothing but an empty bottle. Feeling like shit time is an entire day. This is the basis of my decision to commit myself to abstaining from alcohol and living a so called straight edge lifestyle. I was going to keep this idea to myself at first, just in case I ever wanted to take a little sip of wine or have a glass of beer. But just a couple of weeks ago Aaron mentioned that he was considering the same, so a little bit of a contest was born to see who can commit themselves the longest. Posting this for the world to see will make my intentions stronger as I would expect those who read this to criticize me if they would happen to see me casually drinking a beer after a race or having a glass of wine with dinner. I believe that this is going to turn into more than a contest and become a personal change in my life.