The guy at the bar

Being true to yourself is not always easy. Sometimes it is one of the most difficult, yet revealing things that we can do: being true and honest with oneself. In the last few days I have embarked on a detox program, that truly is not that extreme in terms of guidelines, but it does push your limits. My menu does not currently include many of the things that it normally does for my regular diet before I started this program (wine and beer, cheese, chocolate bars, bread) so in having recently hone out to public places, I have had to conform my menu to theirs.

While at a mellow neighborhood bar in Santa Barbara this past weekend, I was offered a beer many times. Thanks, but I am okay. Eventually I found my way to the bar and while listening to the wondrous beats of Sleighbells (whom I only recently discovered), I decided tea would be my cuppa that night. Chamomile tea, please! I pulled the Scrabble board game that was sitting on the game shelf in the bar and proceeded to create various 3-4 letter words.

Other times, I am tossing back G&Ts or IPAs and carrying on conversations left and right. I eat peanuts to compliment whatever I am drinking. This time: I was almost at a point of meditation while at a bar outing. It was NICE. I was with good company and mentally stimulating myself on a Friday night without the "traditional" desire to spend $50 on inebriating substances.

While this experience was only the first of many, I am sure. I found that I was "that guy" sitting at the bar, sipping away at my tea while most others were getting canned on wine and beer. It was even harmonious to be doing such an act that was a little more foreign to me. I plan to continue being that guy who orders tea... and secretly wishing he was having a glass of wine.