Drinking is such a social thing. You want to fit in, but sometimes you don’t want to drink and afraid you are going to be judged. You being the only one not drinking is going to be weird and your friends/family might not invite you next time. So what do you do? You drink because you want to “fit in”. Well I’m here to tell you that isn’t necessary. Here 5 reasons I stopped drinking and how my friends and family have reacted.
Reason #1 – Curiosity
One of the main reasons why I stopped drinking was because I was curious about what life would be like if I didn’t revolve my day around my night “relaxation” routine. Having my evening drink. I was getting to a point in my day where it was becoming a habit and I didn’t even think twice about it when I poured myself a glass. One day I thought what it would be like to stop drinking alcohol. I had seen influencers on Instagram and TikTok and wanted to know why they stopped drinking and what was so exciting about drinking alcohol that I felt the need to do it. Turns out, I LOVED waking up and being hungover-free, or even just without a headache, or grogginess. I loved being able to enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning because it taste good, not because I needed it. This was a natural long term high for me. I enjoyed this more than the temporary high I would get from drinking the night before. This natural high encouraged me to continue and not drink. My irritation level was lower. I was enjoying simple things in life more.
Reason #2 -Turns out IT’S POISON
Every wonder why when you drink too much, you get alcohol POISONING? Mind blowing to think because it is such a casual part of life, but yes alcohol is POISON. Hence the name ALCOHOL POISONING! And they need to pump your stomach in order to get it out? Think about the stomach virus. When you have a stomach virus you are in the bathroom often because your body is trying to remove the virus one way or another (literally!). Same thing with getting your stomach pumped. You need to get this foreign liquid out of your body because its too much for your body to handle.
Now, let me tell you that alcohol is ethanol. Does that ring a bell? That’s because ethanol is in GASOLINE. Yeah, the stuff you put in your car. HOW DISGUSTING. Would you ever think about drinking the gas you put in your car? Funny cause alcohol has the same amount (10%) of ethanol as gasoline. That is just crazy to think about. We have a difficult time trying not to drink alcohol, but are repulsed by the thought of drinking gasoline. Anytime I think about drinking, I replace my potential glass of wine with a glass of gas and man does that help turn you away from alcohol.
Reason #3 – Healthy Routines
Drinking alcohol was such a waste of time. I recognized myself not wanted to do anything but sit on the couch, scroll through my phone and sip on my wine. Towards the end of my drinking lifestyle, I began to see my lack of motivation and wanted more out of life. I began waking up early, and we all know you can’t do that after a night of drinking. I started reading self help books, especially the ones about sobriety and alcohol, and I did a lot of research. All this helped me realize how horrible alcohol actually is for you. So I started to make a morning routine of waking up early, meditate (after a sip of coffee of course), read my self help book, write in a journal etc. This was so exciting and accomplishing for me so early in the morning that I wanted to continue it. Alcohol wasn’t going to let me do that. So I stopped drinking and started with better and healthier routines.
Reason #4 – My Life Began to be Surrounded by Alcohol
I began to realize that my life was surround by alcohol. I always thought about it. If I wasn’t thinking about it, I was drinking it. If I wasn’t drinking it, I was thinking about how I could get some with out my husband knowing or me being obnoxiously drunk. I didn’t want this to consume my thoughts anymore. Seemed like I lived for the moment I could have that first drink because that helped release my anxiety. Little did I know, it poured more gasoline on my anxiety fire. My anxiety got worse and worse each sip I would have. When I would wake up in the morning full of regret, I WAS STILL THINKING ABOUT ALCOHOL but this time was regretting my decisions due to alcohol.
When I started to take a turn around the corner and became curious about living alcohol-free, my life still surround around alcohol, but in a much better and healthier way. I started to do my research. I watched Youtube videos, followed sober influencers on Instagram and TikTok, read SO MANY sobriety books and started to see a therapist to help me through this. I realized I needed to learn my WHY. Why was I drinking? Why did I feel such a connection to alcohol? Why couldn’t I stop as easily as others? I had so many questions and no immediate answers. Working through therapy made me realize so much and recognized I can turn my life that was surrounded by the thrill of alcohol into a life of hatred of alcohol.
Reason #5 -Being Present
Last but not least, the fifth reason I decided to stop drinking was to be 100% present in my daily life. When I first got curious, I loved waking up and not being hungover or knowing exactly what was said during a conversation between my husband and I. Then I got to a point where I didn’t feel like I had purpose, like there was no excitement in my day or night when I removed alcohol. So I started drinking again. Just like I was before I stopped drinking, I regretted my evening drinks every morning. But it was so hard to get out of the cycle or even find something exciting enough to stay sober through the evening for. I know, sounds absolutely ridiculous, but that was a reason why I started to drink again. But I began to realize that a lot of my life became that blur again and I really began to see no point in my days, until recently.
My husband and I found out that we were pregnant shortly after we got married. We were so excited, but we also wanted to make sure my abstinence from drinking was under control. When I found out I was pregnant, nothing else mattered more to me than making sure I was the absolute best first home for our little girl.
Did I lose sight of why I was living? Yes. Was I ready to give up because that was easier than fighting through cravings and emotions? Yes. Did I have a purpose in life that was worth discovering. Yes. Was my daughter the only purpose to life? No, but she did make me realize that my present life with my family is more important than feeling “high”. Alcohol hasn’t done me any favors, and I refuse to let it take over my world. There is not room for alcohol when my family is my world.