For many people, alcohol is as much a part of their life as their friends and family. Those couple of pints after work, that bottle of vodka before you hit the town, the cans you sneak from your dad's stash when you're 16 - alcohol becomes a habit. And as we all know, old habits die hard.
Even so, these habits can certainly be changed for the better, especially if you put as much focus and determination into it as possible. Just ask Shane McCully.
In December 2014, Shane decided to lay off the booze for an entire year, setting up a personal blog of sorts on Facebook, called Year No Beer.
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Shane's relationship with alcohol was something we can all relate to. It wasn't so much that he was drinking every day, but when he did drink, he went hard.
Credit: YearNoBeer
A binge for Shane wasn't a 12 or 14 hour shift on the sauce, it was two or three days at a time. He wasn't drinking more than his friends, but the booze was having a far greater effect. He spent his late teens, as he tells me, 'being a fucking idiot' and spending more time at the dole office than doing anything productive.
"That's college life I suppose, especially in Ireland. I might not have been drinking too regularly but I'd always find myself with a broken phone, a lump on my head or waking up on a cold urine-covered sheet. It was around 19 or 20 when I stepped back and said to myself, 'Lad, what the fuck are you doing with your life?'"
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He had a real fucking point. His father had committed suicide years before due to problems related to alcoholism, so Shane was fully aware of the potential impact of drinking. He made a change. He returned to university. He reassessed his relationship with alcohol and decided he wanted to be a productive human, rather than the class clown who pissed himself at house parties.
On January 26th, 2015, after two months of mental preparation, he embarked on a journey that would see him give up booze for a year... and what a journey it was.
"My close friends know how motivated I could be and that I'd do it. A lot of casual friends and acquiantances didn't think I'd last a week. I don't blame them either, a lot of people had only seen one side of me, the side that shits his pants down alleys after eight cans of cider and a dodgy curry."
Making the commitment on a public Facebook page meant Shane was more determined to see through the 365 days, otherwise he'd "look a right fucking tool."
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Shane with his father. Credit: YearNoBeer
If you've ever tried to give up alcohol for a few weeks, you'll know how hard it can be. Especially when your friends are drinking in pubs and clubs, while you're nursing a Diet Coke in the smoking area.
At first, Shane attempted to skip any event where alcohol would be present. But after two months, he decided to put himself in those situations
"Something I learned very quickly is that you honestly don't need alcohol. If you're outgoing anyway and aren't self-conscious about your sobriety then the only person who'd know you're sober is you."
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Shane soon felt more confident going out, which in turn strengthened his commitment to staying off the booze. He realised he genuinely didn't need to drink to have a good time.
And this wasn't the only thing Shane discovered.
"Alcohol is a depressant, that's a fact, not speculation. It brings you down. I felt so much more together as a person, more mentally stable, than I had during my messier years. Simply because of cutting out the time wasted while hungover in bed. I was a lot more productive in general, getting shit done."
Throwback Thursday of Shane after pissing himself at a house party. Credit: YearNoBeer
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"It wasn't something I was conscious of initially but when you see how low your friends are after a filthy session and you're as fresh as a daisy, you realise just how detrimental it can be to your mental health."
"By no means did I have a perfect year, I had my ups and downs, but not drinking 100% meant there were less 'downs' to deal with in the first place."
Shane's whole relationship with alcohol became far more healthy. As the year came to a close, it wasn't a case of being desperate to get hammered, more a realisation that he'd had a great year without any booze.
Shane completes his challenge. Credit: YearNoBeer
"I honestly felt like I could take or leave alcohol. I wasn't against it or anything but it was never going to be something I craved like I did when I was younger."
When D-Day arrived on January 26th this year, Shane felt like he deserved a blow out. He went for a pint of Murphy's with his friends.
"I absolutely fucking inhaled that first pint. It was absolute glory. I didn't even realise until I put my pint down and all the lads were laughing. They had taken a normal gulp and I looked down at mine and most of it had gone."
Credit: YearNoBeer
Despite that desperate chug, Shane has a different mindset since completing Year No Beer. He no longer gets in any where near as bad a state as he used to.
"I remember my nights out now. I never get drunk enough to actually enjoy a kebab, which is always a good sign. Saying that, last week I was walking home from a night club and really needed a piss and didn't want to just go on the street so I knocked on my friend's door.
"I must have been fucking bursting because I couldn't wait for the answer and started pissing on the door. A few seconds later my friend opens the door and was just stood in awe at the fact I was pissing into his hallway at 2am."
Old habits die hard, after all.
Words by George Pavlou
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Beer