Holy cow, I’m still alive guys. The space bar on my key board stopped working so I took a long hiatus from blogging, but I’m very much still in the game! Drinking is not even something that occurs to me to do anymore. Well almost never, anyway. I must be up front with the fact that on 2 occasions I did cheat. The first time was in November when on vacation to Arizona, where I was having lunch with friends on a sunny patio next the THE London Bridge. Did you know that it now spans the Colorado River in Lake Havasu City between Arizona and California??? Because I definitely did not. But anyway, it was such a happy occasion, that when my 2 friends introduced me to red beers (which in Arizona is beer mixed with tomato juice, CLAM juice, and spiced up with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce and garnished with olives), I did not want to spoil such a perfect occasion and vacation with some faux highroad. I had 2 beers at lunch and 2 more at a sports bar in Phoenix later that night (which I really do wish that I had passed on the bar in Phoenix). The second occasion, I actually did not “drink” per se, but did partake in our annual Rum Hamsgiving (courtesy of an Always Sunny episode) with friends in Cincinnati. It is a great tradition and it would not be the same if I passed on the ham.
But overall, I have stayed faithful with the program and have no problem passing on drinks when the occasions arise. And on only very few occasions, at bars or parties, has anyone cared to mention it. I don’t miss it at all, and my life is going great for the most part without it. In the last 4 months, I have been accepted to the DPT program at OSU, which is a top 10 program in the country and the best one that I can afford. I have increased my net worth substantially due to more focus and intentionality, and less impulsive drunk spending. Drinks with lunch and dinner, a weekly brewery visit, and the obligatory drunk food that accompanies such nights out on the town adds up much quicker than one might think, and that money invested in home equity or wise stock market trading with that money adds up very quickly too. I have also made imminent plans to join the military (most likely Navy Reserves) to help pay for school and build some non therapy-related marketable skills to carry forward.
If there is one small push back it is that my social life is a little less exciting than it was previously. I have not entirely replaced my nights out and parties with friends with regualr alternatives, and have mostly just spent more time working on projects and hanging out with Keino. Which is not a bad thing, except that I sometimes crave that level of connection again. I think that I will find it again in the OSU DPT program and am also putting focus on it in other circles of my life, like church and old friend circles. Relationships are the area of my life that gets neglected most often in favor of finances, career, and personal development, but I know that it is the area of my life that will bring me the most enrichment if I shift my focus to them. My next post will be New Years Eve Resolutions and the first one will be geared toward building high quality relationships and social networks.
Until the New Year guys! See ya next time.
Iron Sharpens Iron 