Don’t JUST stop Drinking–Start Living!
Do you have a friend who likes drinking too much? Is drinking common where you live? Drinking is a problem that pops up at least once in someones life. Hardly any positivity can come from drinking at all.
Alcohol is toxic to every organ in your body, it is one of the few commonly consumed drugs that predictably increases aggression, it literally causes your brain to shrink momentarily & causes atrophy of vital neural regions of the brain with time. It’s no secret that people tend to do stupid things whilst drunk, it reducing productivity & performance on all skills nor that it’s a major cause of vehicle accidents yearly. Alcohol is the overwhelming cause of domestic violence (either victims or perpetrators of violence (or both) are drunk). Half of all murders take place in a alcohol-fuelled environment & approximately 5-10% of various monkey species whom hold a predisposition to alcoholism will drink till they’re in a coma upon first exposure. Needless to say, it’s a thankless substance that we have normalized & the world would be a much better place without it.
Although it’s a real challenge getting someone to stop drinking, especially if they have a biological tendency to enjoy its physiological effects more than others.
It’s quite difficult because there’s an obvious disconnect between the drinkers and non-drinkers. Non-drinkers often look at drinkers to ask bluntly, “Why don’t you stop drinking or at least drink less!?” To which the answer is often simply, “I like it”.
The drinker senses this and secludes themselves from the crowd of sobers and tightens up with the booze bags. Socially, it works the other way too–the drinker stops inviting the sober around because of the idea that they are just plain boring, unsocial & judgemental. The sober senses this and declines offers and the friendship ultimately parts. Things of course worsen as they both begin to resent & disgust each other in a social setting.
However, for those serious about quitting drinking it’s important to know that to be successful in achieving this one has to extend beyond the bottle itself. “Quitting drinking” is more than simply stopping the behaviour of picking up a glass and putting it to your mouth–in some sense it’s quitting an entire lifestyle.
A lifestyle of habits, traditions, friend groups, common settings & themes all involving alcohol in one way or another. Often a drinker (for reasons mentioned) surrounds themselves in environments where drinking and alcohol is quite prevalent. How can one with a craving realistically continue to expose themselves to a bar with their drunk friends and not partake? Take the time to really quiz a drinker on their friend groups and you’ll find that some people are nothing more than social acquittances, connected by margaritas–take away the tequila and they have no relationship.
It’s important therefore for a drinker seeking to quit to not only forego the habit but the lifestyle surrounding the habit. This is perhaps the most challenging task because it forces the person to find something new, something fresh, something “worth it” in life.
In other words, someone has to finish the end of the bottle and fill it with something amounting to adventure. This adventure allows them to fill the void that was previously lost not by the booze–but when they left the previous lifestyle. The “new you” will have a better physical shape, cognitive help, better psyche with improved interpersonal relationships with those around you.
The trick is to find an activity, a goal, a challenge, a hobby that genuinely excites and thrills the former drinker to be self-fulfilled to the point where they do not seek anymore hangovers that were worth it. This could be starting a business, travelling, learning a new sport, exercise, a new skill, writing a book, filming a movie, starting a new relationship, anything at all that fulfills you.
Anything you do must have a net gain over the short-term “high” of alcohol. Again, it’s quite challenging in the short-term because in some sense they have to re-write their entire life but one should know that there are plenty of options out there. Ultimately, it’s worth it because now you’ll be on a new healthy, happy & safe path for the long-term.
#StayOnTheBall
