Day 96 - Starting to See Clearly Now

Since Last Post - Have not had a drink for a couple of days now.  Sweating like crazy last night, woke up damp all over my torso - not sure if it was the heating or my body cleansing. 

Day 96 -
Busy with work commitments this morning and afternoon and have other business to attend to after work so will not have time to think about the drink.  Sort of substituting being busy for thinking about it.
Also, am clearer and less like I am angry and about to explode.
Even though this is a short post, have not much to comment on as am feeling calm and focused on work.
Have been reading more blogs too.
Found this particularly salient blog,  (I have italicized my comments)

Why Stop Drinking?
The long-term effects of bad habits are rarely sufficient to motivate people to change their lives. The near-term benefits of giving up alcohol are much more useful and interesting anyway. Here are the changes I experienced: Indeed, it is a closed cycle of drink, reward, drunk, dry, thirsty, tired, drink etc etc for me.
•Productive socializing. Talking to strangers is a great way to build character, but its benefits are greatly reduced when you’re drunk. The alcohol represses much of the social anxiety, which inhibits lasting change. But the only thing more terrifyingly fun than getting drunk and meeting a bunch of new people is staying sober and meeting a bunch of new people.  I have been using it as a cloak for meaninngless chit chat since I can remember.  I cringe when I think back to what I have blubbered the night before nearly everytime.  I don't even have the confidence now to go out to a drink-centred event cause I am so scared of just letting go and getting smashed and being a complete dickhead.  So I can't even go out and have a drink anyway.

•Avoid Poor Diet and Fast Food. Free will collapses under the weight of insobriety and convenience. With enough alcohol in your system, even the most wretched burger joint becomes an irresistible sanctuary.  True, and this extrends to the morning and day after, when I crave just about anything to fill the hangover hunger regardless of the health benefits.  Same goes for eating or lack of it when drinking - too often I skip a meal or delay it to keep the "shine" on and then end up eating some processed crap or fast food.

•Reclaim lost time. Let’s say you have a few drinks around the house, three times a week, and that light touch of drunkenness costs you three hours of productive thinking each time. Within one year, you’ll have shaved about one full month off your life. That’s a lot of lost CPU time that could have been put towards reading a book, writing a speech, playing a sport, or even starting a business. Being in that smug, slef satisfied drunken haze is utterly non-productive in my life.  I used to remember as a kid the alco's house with the untended garden and unpainted walls and rotting wood.  That is actually my house, now.  Instead of sitting here half shot, I could be doing stuff to improve our lives - even exercising!

•Get rich quickly. You don’t have to party that hard to spend $100-$150/week or more on alcohol and related expenses. If you quit drinking today, you could reasonably expect to convert that choice into a bankroll for backpacking around the world in about six months. It is expensive, and like cigarettes i quit on December 12, 2009, a debilitating financial disease as well.

•Become an early riser. I’m currently readjusting my sleep schedule to wake up at 5:30 AM, seven days a week. Alcohol, and the lifestyle that often accompanies it, work against this process. Alcohol makes me feel tired when I want to feel energetic and awake. Ironically, it also increases wakefulness during sleep.  Or I have these unexplained afternoon sleeps, where I am simply so tired I fall asleep before dinner.

I can feel the long slow exhale of the elephant in the room on the back of my neck.