Wednesday 15th February 2012 - 1 Year!

G'day Friends,

Well, my year of sobriety is over! I have now completed 365 days without drinking alcohol and I must say that I'm pretty proud of myself.

In hindsight, what have I achieved with this year?.....let's make a list (with thanks to the people who've joined me)

I have......

1) gone a year without drinking
2) given up smoking
3) seen the temples of a few religions (Buddhist, Hindu and Islam)
4) Ridden my bike for a 60km round trip from Sembawang to Sentosa Island and back (thanks Macca)
5) (this one's for the navy folk) done an entire 3 month stay in Singapore without going to 4 floors!
6) Begun volunteering for St Vincent de Paul's Redfern Task Force
7) Struck up a friendship within the Compeer Friendship/Mentoring program for people with some form of mental illness
8) Signed up for the Benevolent Society's Community Care and the Mater's LinkAGE programs, to improve the lives of the elderly
9) Been promoted (which I'm sure is due in at least some part to not drinking)
10) Adopted a dog
11) Written some poems (something I haven't done for years)
12) Walked from Sydney to Cronulla
13) Visited Marina Bay Sands' Sky Park (Thanks Macca)
14) Waxed my whole body from the neck down (what was I thinking! - Thanks for the idea Kath)
15) Finger painted a picture of Sydney Harbour
16) Gone ice-skating (Cheers Renee, Nicole and Matt)
17) Learnt (a little bit of) French
18) Gone bush walking in the Blue Mountains (Thanks Nicole)
19) Sketched a self-portrait
20) Spent 24hrs without speaking or seeing anything
21) Visited Newcastle for a day
22) Visited Melbourne for a weekend (Thanks Casey, Nicole and Jean)
23) Been to Singapore's Botanic gardens, Chinese Gardens and Japanese Gardens
24) Visited Juron Bird Park (Thanks Macca)
25) Taken a photo of the old man who dances with such gusto in Clarke Quay on Saturday nights
26) Visited and taken photos from Sydney's Centrepoint Tower (Thanks Mum)
27) Spent an afternoon at Luna Park (Thanks Sarah)

I have also managed to set an example for my friend Jane and my little brother Alex, both of whom have already, or are about to, embark on a year of sobriety of their own.

I've been able to wake up every morning feeling great, and hopefully that good feeling has rubbed off on a few of the people around me.

I have been able to see how little I need alcohol in my life, and understand, that while I do (or at least, used to) enjoy alcohol, not having it in my life has made a vast and positive difference.

I've been able to see myself clearly, without deflecting from my own doubts with alcohol, to see who I really am, and realise that I truly like him.  I realise that I have failings, but that so does everyone, and the fact that I have them means that I'm human (just like everybody else), and gives me something to work on in order to improve myself.

All in all, I'm probably happier with having successfully completed this year than I am with any other achievement of my life.  Not getting into the Navy, nor having my first poem published in the paper; not buying my first home, nor being promoted compares to the satisfaction I feel today :)

Well, I think I may have bored you all to death! I'll sign off for now, as Suzie needs a walk, and Howie needs a sleep after last night.  Thanks to all of you who supported me throughout the last 12 months, either with moral support or coming along on my various adventures.  I hope that you are all having a great 2012 and for those of you who are worried about missing my regular (ish) diary entries, fear not! I'll be posting here for a long while yet........because I love the attention :)

Have a great day Friends :)

Howie..