Much appreciated. If I’m honest, I have a few other motivations for wanting to live a cleaner lifestyle. I’ve recently turned fourty and last year I had my second child. Life has changed. The big parties are few and far between now and most drinks these days are consumed relaxing at home.
I would like to think that I’m coming up to the halfway point of my life but my family history puts me potentially a lot further along than that. Heart attacks and strokes are very common in my family and men tend to fall of the perch early. 60s is common. There is a strong correlation with drink. The women fair much better with two of my great grandmothers making it past 100. The blokes tend to drink though. None are drunks but if they didn’t finish a six pack every night, they would have put a decent dent into it.
My doctor has been monitoring my cholesterol levels and they are higher than she would like. Food and excise don’t seem to shift them. Probably hereditary she says (so was drinking I thought). Cutting the booze drops the triglycerides right down and with a few fasting days I am able to control my cholesterol without medication. I know how to pass the yearly checkup now but I generally slack off the rest of the time. I need to stop that.
I’ve also become aware that my four year old girl is watching me (and everyone) and taking it all in. On Friday after work I was feeling 50/50 on if I shouldn’t polish off the remaining beers in the fridge and continue with a clean slate. I asked her if I should have a few beers tonight. “Sure!” she said enthusiastically. I asked her why and she replied something to the effect. Because you’re a man. You drink beer, Poppy drinks beer, Opa drinks beer, my uncle drinks beer. That’s what you guys do. Your always drinking beer. Go for it.
That was a wake up call too. I received the same unspoken education. Men drink. That’s what separates them from kids and women. Probably not the best advise for a little boy and girl. I feel like I currently have a chance to change things and break a toxic generational cycle.
When I was younger there were lots of benefits to drinking. I bonded with friends, met new people, expanded my social network, went new places, met girls and generally had lots of fun. These days the cost / benefit ratio has started to shift the other way. It’s a tipping point and if you look at it rationally I have lots to gain and little to loose by cutting back.
Anyways, back to shaving…
