Shots. Shots. Shots.

Everybody! A coping mechanism for the nonalcoholic.

Real life can feel like a drinking game.

Take a shot every time:

• Your friend posts her son on Facebook. Bonus if there’s an endearing quote. “Mommy, I pooped today!”
• You find a roach in the sink.
• You have a rare night to go out during the week, and it rains. Buckets.
• You pick up the phone just a millisecond after it rings.
• You have The Best Idea For An Article Ever — and forget it on the way home.
• Your mother +Shares a Medium post. Bonus if your grandmother +Likes it.*

Plus all the others that can’t be numbered. (Such as, every time you wish there was a magical sauna that appeared at will. Like the Room of Requirement — but toasty.)

If you do a shot every time one of the above happens, that’s definitely one way of getting through the week.

But if you make life into a game of Take Your Vodka to Work Day, it gets expensive. And inconvenient.

Plus, you have to constantly explain the smell.

So! Alternative.

Whenever a shot-worthy situation appears, keep a pad and paper on hand and do the following:

Step 1. Breathe.

Step 2. Draw a shot glass.

Step 3. Fill it with your beverage of choice.

Step 4. Breathe.

Step 5. Move on.

That way, you can track your progress for the day.

Few shots = Go you, doing well!
Many shots = Better luck tomorrow.

Get your friends in on it. A little contest never hurt — who had the most shots in their day? Or the fewest?

You never know. A god-awful day, broken in a few bad shots, doesn’t look so bad after all.

“Well, that happened. Took a shot. Now let’s go.”

*(I love you, Mom.)