Day 349.
Just a quick post to all those wondering about when to start —before the holidays? After the holidays? I started between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so here’s my plug for that approach. I knew it would be tough, but I felt that2020 was such a sh!t year that I wanted to at least end on something positive. I thought if I could just do that ONE thing for a stretch, I’d feel good about myself, and if I could make it to Jan 1, I’d then get the momentum of the dry January folks and know that the hardest stretch was already behind me.

Now this year whatever stress the holidays may bring, I know I’m hitting ONE F-CKING YEAR right in the middle of it, and that sense of achievement by far eclipses my holiday stress. It’s my present to myself.

So, if you’re waffling, think about how you’ll feel this time next year, about to hit a year, feeling better than you’ve felt in ages. What kept me going in the early days was thinking about how I wanted to meet the version of myself that was one-year alcohol free. I wanted to reclaim the mentality I had at 8 when I used to tape construction paper “chains” on my arms and then flex to pop them off. (I think I saw that in an old movie about Hercules. Samson? that my dad watched). I mean OF COURSE my kid self would want to break chains with her little kid “muscles.”

So, tonight is my first Krav Maga class in Brooklyn. My knuckles are still raw, so I’ll have to wrap and protect them, but I’m so excited. Hello young jaunty Jaimie, nice to meet you again.