WEDNESDAY 28TH DECEMBER 2022

Well, Christmas has been and gone and I’ve survived my first one without dad.  There was a moment on Christmas Day when I debated locking myself in the toilet and just letting it all out but I held it together and the day unfolded well.  I won’t deny that Christmas morning was a little different without the giddy, champagne glow and a glass of red would’ve been nice to accompany Christmas dinner but I think it’s fair to say that I haven’t missed it as much as I thought I would.  I certainly haven’t missed the hangovers and the eventual heartburn when I really hit the excess button.  A bit disappointed to still be falling asleep on the sofa, which I’d usually have put down to the day-time drinking, but I guess it might just be more attributable to age and being so bloody busy all the time. 

MY WHY

It is widely accepted that excessive alcohol consumption ages a person and I’ve been involved in conversations where the fact that someone is “a drinker” has been given and accepted as a reason for someone looking older than their years.   Now, I wouldn’t say I’m particularly vain but I’m a woman of a certain age and I’m conscious that the ageing process is a one-way street.  If everything I’ve read is to be believed, giving up alcohol comes with the promise of a healthy glow and, although I can’t say I’m overly impressed with the results that I’m showing at the moment, I’ve surely got to be looking better than I would be if I weren’t 6 months alcohol-free.  I love the understated way that Jennifer Lopez gives her reason for not drinking as being that she doesn’t think alcohol if very good for the skin.  She’s right, of course – alcohol dehydrates the skin, plain and simple.  I don’t want people looking at me and coming to the conclusion that I’m a drinker.  And it’s not just the external signs, alcohol ages the body in other ways too.  They say that giving up alcohol can extend your life expectancy, so, I guess you could say that, by taking a break from alcohol, this Christmas I have given myself the gift of life.  To be honest, extending my life expectancy isn’t a huge motivating factor for me but what I do want is to be healthy of mind and body for the duration of whatever time I have and, if what I am doing this year can promote that, then that is a gift indeed. 

Theme Tune: Merry Christmas War Is Over by John Lennon