Why I Recently Gave Up Drinking Alcohol
I just recently gave up drinking alcohol (The Devil’s Gatorade). Nothing bad happened to me, but I was probably just very lucky, especially given the quantity of alcoholic beverages I was ingesting on a frequent basis. I simply decided that it’s time for me to finally mature out of the party scene. Just for perspective, I have been around the sun 51 times. I should have done this a while back, but for whatever reason, I previously did not step away from my perpetual hedonistic and epicurean lifestyle.
Until I made this self-imposed transition, my actual existence was incongruent with my ideal existence. Looking back now, I can honestly say that over-drinking is a selfish behavior. The alcohol becomes the top priority, to the detriment of all the people around the alcoholic. Only when the alcoholic’s immediate need been fulfilled, can they consider engaging with other people or other things. There could be some fear/pain associated with the thought of making a change to sobriety, but if you don’t make this change, the fear/pain will inexorably manifest into something much worse over time. Also, dealing with hardships, rather than washing them away with alcohol, is how you build your character. While refining your character you will develop integrity, empathy, and compassion.
An alcoholic drink is one that contains ethanol, which is produced by the fermentation of grains, fruits, or other types of sugar. When alcohol is consumed, it is a psychoactive drug that acts as a depressant for the central nervous system. Addictive substances hook people physically by messing with the brain’s chemistry. These substances trigger the release of dopamine, the body’s ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter. Once a person does something that trips the brain’s reward center, they experience heightened sensations of pleasure, and as such they are more likely to repeat the activity.
To be comprehensive, there are a total of four ‘happy hormones’.
- Dopamine gives us pleasure, and it motivates the brain’s reward system
- Endorphins assist with managing stress and reduced feelings of pain
- Serotonin is a mood stabilizer, responsible for well being and happiness
- Oxytocin helps with love, trust, and overall bonding
So, we know we drink alcohol because we want to feel good. This is what alcohol literally promises us! In reality though, what alcohol actually delivers is very, very, very different.
You can easily and do some Google searches and find all kinds of awful alcohol-related casualties, posted all around the Internet. I Googled a few drinking topics, and I found countless scenarios which were absolutely too grotesque to mention here. I’ll underscore just one of my findings, to illustrate the point.
Henry Ruggs was a former Las Vegas Raiders player. He was a millionaire, and he had a lovely girlfriend plus an amazing daughter. Everything changed for Ruggs in an instant. Ruggs drank too much alcohol one day in 2021, and he was charged in a deadly car crash. While intoxicated, Ruggs achieved a top speed of 156 miles per hour, before causing a fatal vehicular collision. A 23-year-old woman, Tina Tintor, and her dog were both killed when Ruggs’ car rear-ended hers on a city street in Las Vegas. Tintor’s vehicle went up in flames, and authorities later determined that both she and the dog burned to death in the incident.
Alcohol promised Ruggs one thing, but it delivered something radically different, and completely sinister.
According to the Center for Disease Control, all in all, excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for a little over 140,000 deaths in the United States each year. Furthermore, over 30% of all driving fatalities were alcohol-related. In addition, around 15 million Americans have an alcohol use disorder, and only 8% of these people will seek treatment. All of this insanity increased exponentially during the pandemic. Horrible!
When we quantify the alcohol-related burden on our overall society, the results are almost beyond comprehension!
$245 billion in annual economic loss in the US:
- Healthcare — $28 billion
- Workplace productivity — $179 billion
- Collisions — $13 billion
- Criminal Justice- $25 billion
Negative consequences of consuming alcohol:
• feelings of relaxation or drowsiness
• a sense of euphoria or giddiness
• changes in mood
• lowered inhibitions
• impulsive behavior
• slowed or slurred speech
• nausea and vomiting
• diarrhea
• head pain
• changes in hearing, vision, and perception
• loss of coordination
• trouble focusing or making decisions
• loss of consciousness or gaps in memory (often called a blackout)
• persistent changes in mood, including anxiety and irritability
• insomnia and other sleep concerns
• a weakened immune system, meaning you might get sick more often
• changes in libido and sexual function
• changes in appetite and weight
• problems with memory and concentration
• difficulty focusing on tasks
• increased tension and conflict in romantic and family relationships
• etc., etc., etc.
Positive consequences of consuming alcohol:
- nothing
If you have read this far, please continue to the end. I’m going to take the opportunity to pivot in a religious direction now. Nowhere in the Bible does God forbid us to drink alcohol, but being drunk is completely wrong, because when you are drunk you are not in control of yourself, Jesus can’t control you and neither can the Holy Spirit. When you are not in control, Satan will gladly step in and take over control. No one wants that! For me, it’s an issue of control. That’s why I quit drinking. You could make an argument that everyone has some kind of addiction. But do you control your addiction, or does it control you? If you can’t control it, run away from it.
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
-Ephesians 5:18
Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.
-Proverbs 23:20–21)
The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
-Psalms 27:1
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
- John 8:12
I once heard a man say, ‘It’s ok if children are afraid of the dark. It’s not their fault. The real tragedy in life is when adults are afraid of the light’. This bit of wisdom resonates strongly with me.
It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested. But when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away before we were aware that it was passing. So it is — the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it.
- Seneca, Roman Philosopher
In conclusion, when you give up alcohol, you will find that you have an abundance of extra time in your daily schedule. Use this opportunity to explore new ways to spend your newfound time. Try to immerse yourself in innovative hobbies or novel activities that could help you become truly self-actualized and live a life with real meaningful purpose. Your time is the most important thing you own in this life. Don’t waste time, but instead, embrace it.
Sources for research purposes:
https://www.healthline.com/health/alcohol/effects-on-body#long-term
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/onlinemedia/infographics/cost-excessive-alcohol-use.html
https://www.intoactionrecovery.com/how-does-alcohol-affect-dopamine/
