Settled into the Sober New Year, starting with a great DryJanuary

Wow, January flew by. We started celebrating and motivating and encouraging the folks we know who committed to a dry January, one solid sober month, and whoosh, the first month of 2015 is nearly complete.

A lot of people have asked, via all the usual methods, about the concepts behind the annual Dry January campaign. Opinions differ, but here at Lose The Booze, we think any campaign that encourages folks to think before they drink is a really good plan.

It's not just for the newly or temporarily sober, either. For those of us who have celebrated many dry Januaries, and all the months in between, it's a great time to stop, reflect, and notice the great things that have opened up in life now that we're in charge of whether we drink.

One woman who commented on a Dry January article in Slate, shared her belief that the whole thing was a terrible idea because no-one should get sober for just a month. Okay. That viewpoint pretty much puts the whole one day at a time mantra into free-fall, but let's take her opinion at face value.

If Dry January is torture for you. If you're missing your drink of choice every day. If you're drinking on the sly, or thinking about drinking during your regular life, you may just want to stop. Yep, stop drinking for a lot longer than January. Your relationship with alcohol is not likely in balance, and your compulsive thinking about drinking is a flashing brightly lit sign that you may have a real problem. If you're sweating out the month you just may be an alcoholic. At the very least you should take the Lose The Booze quiz and really think about whether alcohol use is working for you.

If, on the other hand, you are like my friend Mary, lucky you. Mary sees the month as an annual mini fitness plan. She commits to skipping the chardonnay calories during her Dry January, feels great during her annual use-the-gym binge, and, with no more thought than, as she says "all those years of no fish on Friday," goes about life as usual, you probably do not need to be here at all. Find a blog with good recipes. Enjoy your spin class. Maybe stop and check in with your other relationships with people, food, fitness, work, sleep, and whatever else may not be as balanced.

Dry January is a great tool for inviting yourself or others to consider how drinking alcohol is affecting all of the different parts of your life. Family relationships good? Work? Taking care of your health? If you don't like the answers, or alcohol is too big a part of every question, you can have a fresh shiny new start. Every day arrives squeaky clean and ready for you. Each new year is an opportunity to re-choose what works for you.

For you, as it is for me, January may be a time of gratitude for having found a way to quit drinking that works, for you. You may be grateful for the resilience of your relationships and the grace and forgiveness that got you through rough times. You may have kind words and acceptance to spare for someone you know who looks at a dry month as a BIG DEAL.

Whatever works for you. Works.

5 Ways to Keep Stress Down During the holidays

5. Don't Overdo It - Don't take on more than you can handle. It's easy to get caught up in all of the festivities and over-commit. Make sure you know your limits and remember it's okay to say no thank you, I already have plans.

4. Plan Ahead - Making a list and checking it twice can make all the difference in making your season bright. Knowing what needs to be done and having a game plan will help you stay focused on what's really important.

3. Go with the Flow - Planning is all fine and dandy, when those plans leave room for the unexpected. It's important to understand you cannot control everything and everyone. Sometimes, you need to take a deep breath and be flexible.

2. Take Care of Yourself - Remember to stay hydrated, eat properly, and get a good night's sleep. Even though you are busy, respect your mind and body. This will give you the energy and clear thoughts needed to carry you through the season.

1. Remember to be Grateful - It's easy to get caught up with to do lists, and the busyness of the season, but remember why you are doing it and whom you are doing it for. It's not about how much you do or buy, it's about the people you spend your time with.

And above all, remember that your decision to not drink your way through the holidays is a huge gift to yourself and those around you. Staying Sober Through the Holidays is our new book, and can be your gift to those you love. 

A Better List for Staying Sober Through the Holidays

First things first: I would love to credit the originator of this fabulous alternative holiday list. It arrived in my inbox, on Facebook, and via Twitter, today with several different attributions. If you know who created this powerful item, please comment so we can all thank him or her.

As we Lose The Booze team members work our way through this busy season, with all of the joys, stresses, messes, and opportunities it brings, this list is up on our wall.

Be
Hug
Peace
Donate
Love
and Be.

May your decision to Lose The Booze be freeing and joyful for you, this season. May, Staying Sober Through the Holidays,  only add to your blessings.

Take care of yourself. Walk the dog. Eat. Rest. Do what is fun and fulfilling.

Another good reason...to Enjoy a Sober Season

The first of the annual, How Not to ruin your career by getting hammered at the company party, stories has hit the wire services. NPR has this week's winner, mischief-under-the-mistletoe-office-partygoers-behaving-badly

If you're a Lose the Booze reader you know that Margaret Gold provides all sorts of great tips and strategies on how not to humiliate yourself at a work or family holiday event.

Whether you are getting sober, moderating carefully, or are a long-time sober person facing the annual stress marathon of holiday events, here are a few good tips to help you stay sober through the holidays:

• Have an appropriate non-alcoholic beverage in your hand at all times, if you are in a must-attend, drinking business or social situation. 
• Ask for non-alcoholic drinks, soda water, etc. to be served in a real glass, with a twist of lemon or lime. Stemware, a highball glass, or whatever everyone else at the event is drinking from, no straw please, will minimize the number of questions or pressure you’ll likely receive from others about your beverage choice, at the event. 
• Insist with staff if necessary – there’s nothing more conspicuous than Coke in a plastic cup at an open bar event. If they tell you that they’ll have to charge you for your soda water or Sprite as if it were a vodka tonic, reflect for .7 seconds on how much booze has cost you, at similar events, over the years, and pay up. 
• Plan an escape if the temptation gets too great.

For many, many more detailed strategies, scripts, trigger management techniques, and support for the choices you are making about drinking this season, please consider looking at Staying Sober Through the Holidays, Margaret Gold's new book for sober people who want to remain that way through Valentines Day and beyond. 

If you are still looking at whether it might be time to Lose the Booze, start here.