Not too long ago, I had to give up alcohol for a week. It was a bummer because I enjoy drinking wine, but I was taking a prescription medication that didn't interact well with booze, and wished to avoid the scary interaction side effects. Yep. Like headaches, nausea, and "psychotic episodes". The hell? The first two didn't seem *that* bad, but I'm positive I don't need any psychotic episodes. So I sucked it up, and spent a week settling for alternatives. I didn't like it, but I did it.
This experience made me think. One week isn't such a long time. Maybe one week is the perfect trial run for making some changes in your life. Permanent changes are difficult to stick with, but you can grit your teeth and do just about anything for a week. I can think of a lot of small "one week challenges" that I could try on for size. Maybe some of the things will turn out to be not so bad. And some might seem intolerable. But I think maybe I will try one new thing per week and see how it sits with me. I might even stick with a few of them... but teetotaling will not be among them!
The 'challenge' could be to do something new, or to stop a bad habit. This week, I've been trying to go for a walk for about half an hour every day. So far I'm three for three. Anyone have any bright ideas for what to try? Leave 'em in the comments! Be kind...
11 comments:
I'd suggest giving up pop. You'll be surprised how much better you feel, and how much you're actually addicted to it.
Me? I haven't had one since 2000.
That wouldn't be hard to do for a week, but would be hard to give up forever. I don't drink coke every day, but I do get a hankerin' for one now and then!
So you're not one of them thar southern belles who has a diet coke addiction?
I guess it could be worse... you could be addicted to Mountain Dew.
Ignore him. He's just cranky that we can drink pop.
I suggest going without salt for a week. I was going to say no TV for a week, but what would the point of that be? :)
ll - diet drinks all taste awful. No thanks! I never drink the Dew, but I have a friend who is so addicted that she couldn't bear to give it up for Lent. She cut back to one per day instead.
trin - if American Idol continues it's diabolical plans for global domination, it would be quite easy for me to give up TV.
A week without eating a Reese's Cup. That would be hard to do for me. Or any chocolate.
One-week challenges do sound doable...but there are 52 whole weeks in a year, you know, one right after the other!
I find it a lot easier to do things for a week, too. Right now I'm doing no alcohol because I'm on antibiotics. I find it much easier to do that when there's nothing in the house to drink, except a bottle of semi-expensive champagne (that requires a special occasion) and bottles of My Igor's wine which I save to share with my uncle since he actually likes red wine.
I don't drink pop either, although I do get the occasional "hankering" for Faygo's Pineapple Orange which I can't find anymore so I have to settle for just pineapple.
Pop... is that anything like soda?
wa11z - me too!
jay - welcome. True enough about the 52 weeks, but I could either throw in an easy one every now and then, or just do a week here and there when I think of something to try out.
Kat - red is my overwhelming favorite. I only drink white wine when I cook with it and have some left over.
Jim - down here, they're all "cokes", no matter what actual brand of flavor they are.
Great idea, fermi. A week is nice, non-threatening nugget of time. I can think of at least three things right now that I'd like to try. The prospect of trying to keep up the activity indefinitely is too daunting, but this I know I can do (she said as she sat and sipped her pinot grigio).
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