A little over a week ago, I embarked on a three day hunting
trip with two close friends; a trip that was planned one year in advance. A few days before the trip, one of the guys
asked me about how I felt about him drinking and smoking while at our remote
hunting cabin. I really appreciated his
concerns and I told him not to worry, for I wasn’t. The day of the trip the three of us packed up
our supplies (including beer and rum) on the ATVs and started on the two hour trail ride
to the cabin. During the ride, I was
wrestling with the decision to drink or not to drink, knowing that if I have
one, I was going to have many. Before
reaching the cabin I had made a conscious decision that I was going to drink. It wasn’t like something had suddenly come
over me and I didn’t know what was happening; it was a calculated decision that
I purposely made. When we reached the
cabin we unloaded our supplies, lit the woodstove fire, prepared dinner and sat
back drinking while devising a plan for the morning hunt. The three days did not result in a three day
drinking binge, but rather, a very good hunting experience with a lot of walking/tracking
involved. My last evening at the cabin I
began to wrestle with another decision; to try and maintain moderation or return to abstinence. That evening I chose the latter. It’s been a little over a week since
returning from the hunting trip (AF) and as I reflect back to my initial
decision (almost 5 weeks ago) to quit drinking, I’m wondering if the
anticipation of the hunting trip somehow influenced my reluctance to set any
goals.
