Why Dry July is not about the weather

I naively thought Dry July was a northern hemisphere summer weather phenomenon when in actual fact it’s a month when people can sign up to abstain from alcohol for a whole month while at the same time raising funds to support people affected by cancer.

It all started back in 2008, when three mates decided to take a break from their boozing for the month of July and called it their ‘Dry July’. At the same time they wanted to raise funds for a family member affected by cancer so they asked friends and family to sponsor them. Their goal was to raise $3,000 to buy a television for their local hospital’s waiting room. Their fund-raising exceeded all expectations and they ended up raising a whopping $250,000!

I’ve mentioned taking part in Dry July several times to my friends and family – a great way for me to kick the booze for a considerable length of time, and yes, 31 days is a considerable length of time off booze for me. Apparently giving up booze is going to improve the quality of my sleep, enhance my work performance and improve my concentration. I’m going to lose weight and my blood glucose is going to lower as well as my liver fat and to top it all I’m going to have hydrated, healthier skin – lovely, I can’t wait!

Today being the last day of June, I decided I should really get a grip and sign up to Dry July; I mean how hard is it? By signing up I have at least committed to taking part and being the straighty-one-eighty that I am means that I will at least aim to see it through. How delighted then, that after signing up and promoting my challenge on social media, the donations have started to flood in and over $100 has already been donated to support people and families affected by cancer by me staying off booze for a month. I wasn’t expecting any support so I am chuffed to bits!

So while I sip on my last savvy blanc for awhile and realise that my challenge is real – really real, I can be sure that it’s not even half the challenge I’d be facing right now if I was fighting cancer.