My Whole Life Is A Triathlon
I was out for dinner the other night and I was fielding a few questions as to why I wasn’t drinking.
I realised recently that I didn’t want to drink alcohol anymore. I haven’t missed it so far. It turns out I didn’t need it anymore.
What ensued was a very healthy conversation about the role of drinking in our culture and our lives.
Mr. Alcohol
If there had once existed a person called ‘Mr. Alcohol’ who invented the suite of alcoholic drinks, then this person has done quite well in placing his product at the heart of almost every social ritual.
Birthdays. Weddings. Long weekends. Baptisms. Friday after work. Sunday sessions. Romantic evenings. You-name-it-we-got-a-drink-for-your-occasion.
It’s everywhere in our culture. It’s sticky. For some, it’s addictive. Some are worse still reliant on it.
Why?
The product is not good enough to keep me coming back. So far, I don’t miss it.
But it didn’t hurt me much. It wasn’t interfering that much in my life. I had undoubtedly had good times using it in the past and it was an accelerant of a lot of good memories.
So why give it up?
One of my friends…
As I was there getting challenged and prodded about my decision from every angle, one friend reflected that he was also giving up drinking for February because he was doing a Triathlon.
That made me think. It made me realise something more. He had given me even more clarity about my decision. I turned to him and asked…
“You’re giving it up for the Triathlon right? That makes it worth giving up?”
“Yeh” he replied.
And then I said it:
“My whole life is a triathlon”.
