5 Things Happened after I Stopped Social Drinking
Why is drinking so normalized? Is the headache worth the social interaction.
I got tired of waking up with a throbbing headache the next morning wondering why I did this. Why am I intentionally poisoning my body to have fun?
I have never tried to imagine life without drinking.
I always thought that to have fun, you have to drink and go out with friends. I was just doing it because that's what I thought I was supposed to do to socialize. So, I challenged myself to stop drinking socially and excessively.
I allow myself to have a glass of wine with dinner every so often or a beer on the beach sometimes. But, I don’t consider these as social or excessive drinking.
1. People won’t understand and will probably pressure you to drink
First thing that happened was people didn’t understand.
To some people I was just being “no fun”.
When truthfully, I just didn’t want to drink. Even then, “shots” would be ordered and people would be surprised when I wouldn’t take mine as if I didn’t already politely decline.
Since when is “No thanks, I don’t want one” not a “good enough” answer, to not do something.
2. Losing friends
This sounds more dramatic than it is. After I stopped drinking socially, some friends slowly grew apart from me over time.
It seemed all we had in common was going out drinking, and we no longer enjoyed the same things. Which is okay, it’s normal to grow out of people. But to be honest, in the end I didn’t miss those friendships very much.
3. I saved more money than I thought
I knew I was going to save money, but the amount surprised me a bit. I still go out to bars and dance having water or soda to fuel me in my fun.
But, I found myself saving about $200 a month.
This was from no longer going to the store for alcohol and only paying the door fee at the bar. I’m still having fun and it’s way less expensive.
According to Statistic's Canada “The price of alcohol was up a sobering 5.8% year over year in December, the largest year-over-year increase in alcohol prices since 1991.” (Dry February, you say?, 2023)
4. No regrets
My Saturdays are more enjoyable, I don’t feel punished by a headache or nausea after going out and having fun with friends.
I no longer find myself cringing at things I may have said or my actions while consuming alcohol that weekend.
5. Increased Confidence
Something I also didn’t expect was, I became more confident. I’m more comfortable with going against social norm and doing what I want to do.
I no longer need confidence from alcohol to go out and have fun.
Going out dancing and meeting people without the help of alcohol to “loosen me up” has greatly improved my confidence in being myself in my day-to-day life.
At the end of the day
I have no issue with anyone socially drinking, it just personally isn’t something I enjoy anymore.
It’s in our everyday lives. Your friend goes through a breakup and the first answer is “let’s go out!”. When you’re meeting someone new, often the first thing you ask is “Hey, wanna go for a drink sometime?”.
The global revenue for alcoholic drinks is $1,608.82 billon U.S dollars in 2023 alone. It is predicted to go up to $1,986.72 billon by 2027.
I only encourage you to question whether it is something you enjoy or if you’re doing it because it’s a social standard.
