I Stopped Drinking During the Pandemic

How to resist the allure of being a social drunk

Source: Author

Prior to the pandemic, I ran a bar. I was there all of the time. Literally. My typical day spanned 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. Some nights (or mornings) I didn’t get home until just before or after sunrise. We had lots of fun after hours.

I was slightly buzzed, sometimes drunk, and, more often than not, high on edibles all of the time. I lived in an altered state. But I had a killer social life.

Then, in mid-March, Los Angeles instituted its stay-at-home order and shut down bars and restaurants. My life changed. I returned to full-time writing. I got in the best shape of my life, adopted a strict diet, and quit drinking.

I’m at peace with my decision, however it’s difficult to resist the allure of being a social drunk. You gotta win the tug of war between having an “easy” social life and putting in the work to have a genuine and truly fulfilling one.

You’re Slowly Killing Yourself When You Drink Excessively

We know this. However, we often ignore the impacts of alcohol on our body because many of them are invisible.

For example, when I was drinking all the time, eating poorly, and not sleeping, clumps of my hair fell…