This idea came a little out of the blue, but as the title says, I am going to stop drinking.
I drink quite a bit for a variety of reasons. The first reason is that a decent beer is really really nice. The less excusable reason is my lifestyle, namely the social implications of being a member of Leeds University Union Canoe Club (LUUCC), and the people that I generally know.
Now, I did think that maybe I could do this for charity, and raise some money for a good cause, however thinking about it, this would not work.
People do cool stuff like climb Kilimanjaro, run the London marathon etc., and raise vast amounts for awesome charities... To most stopping drinking is the easiest thing in the world, and not worthy of a donation but meh.. if it is so easy why not donate two drinks worth of cash to charity anyway.
Essentially, what I am going to do is as follows. I am going to stop drinking alcohol 100% for 1 month (minimum). Absolutely no alcohol - no cheeky post pool pints, no mega binges, no nothing. In addition to this, I am going to stop smoking tobacco completely. I have not specified tobacco because I am a mega drug addict, but rather because I'm going to look into some tobacco alternatives, because the act of smoking de-stresses me.
Anyone who knows me well knows that this will be a massive challenge for me on the basis that I drink near enough 7 times a week. Ok, that is an exaggeration, but when I do drink, I drink quite a lot which comes at vast cost. I could do with both the money, and the health benefits.
Continuing with the 'anyone who knows me' spiel, I have a very warped 'be the best' attitude towards near enough everything I do. Most people who know me know that because I have made this blog post I have absolutely no intention of failing. They would be right. To further add to this, any alcoholic beverage I do consume I will give 100% of the cost of said drink to charity out of my own money, AND reset the month. I.E. If I cannot stop drinking I'll be donating money to charity for the rest of my life - heck a bit of philanthropy every once in a while is awesome.
So yeh.. a summary. I am going to stop smoking and drinking. People should donate money to a charity - charities are awesome.