Why I stopped drinking alcohol.
Before you continue, let’s back up: I want to make it clear that I do not judge those of you reading this who love a glass of wine in the tub, mimosas at brunch or some beers with your friends. If wine tours or vineyards or beer flights light you up, I love it! I’m not here to tell you alcohol is a bad thing in moderation. Vineyards are one of my favorite places in the world and I still enjoy time with my girlfriends at brunch, even if I don’t drink the mimosas.
Now, let’s get into it.
I have not had an alcoholic beverage in over three years. Ironically enough, the hardest part about not drinking is being asked why I don’t drink. I don’t mind the question at all. I struggled for a long time to come up with a short answer to a seemingly simple question. I have a handful of reasons that I am mindful about my alcohol intake, from a {very} strong family history of addiction to my genuine dislike of the taste of most types of alcohol — but those are not why I chose to stop.
The answer is simple:
At this time, it is out of alignment with the things that are truly important to me.
It started with anxiety and panic attacks — & what seems like a lifetime ago, I made the decision to take back control of how I was feeling and put my overall health / well being first and foremost before anything else. When you are in a place of such high {constant} stress and overwhelm like I was, it is hard to enjoy the things around you. It is hard to remain present and engaged with the people you care about. It just doesn’t feel good. So I made the choice to feel good. I decided that my physical and mental health would be #1 moving forward.
Changes to my diet and daily practices started slow, and alcohol was one thing that I felt was simple enough to cut completely.
That being said, alcohol never “made” me feel bad — I wasn’t someone who became a sloppy or angry drunk. I didn’t feel that it made me anxious or emotional (although the next day I did feel my anxiety was always much worse). I always had a really healthy relationship to going out and having some drinks.
But! Did I get hungover? Yes. Did it make me feel tired and lazy the next day? Always. Did it usually involve late nights and greasy food? Yep! So, I decided to temporarily cut alcohol while I was trying to manage my stress and anxiety.
{I won’t get into it in this blog, but if you are curious as to how alcohol affects the body and your stress // energy levels, do some research on your own. You will find some useful information that might motivate you to make some changes}.
I didn’t plan on cutting out alcohol for this long, and it’s not to say that I will never have a drink again. I don’t put myself in a box that way. But after diving into all things health and wellness, as my career as a nurse progresses and the more I continue to focus on living in alignment with what feels good to me, alcohol just does not fit into how I want to show up and how I want to feel. I like feeling energized and productive. I love early mornings and waking up motivated. I value feeling grounded, clear headed and at peace. I prioritize my health and my beauty and want to continue feeling vibrant and youthful.
So if this resonates with you & if cutting alcohol is something that you think you want to try, here are some tips on how to navigate some situations that might come up for you.
People will (unintentionally) put pressure on you to drink. That’s okay! When this happens, just remember why you are making the decision in the first place. If you need to, say “No thanks! Maybe later!” and strike up a new conversation. Stay confident and don’t be afraid to say no. Do not let your ego make you believe you have to participate just because you feel like you will be the buzzkill (trust me, I’ve been there!). You might find that you aren’t the only one who is wanting to cut alcohol & will inspire that other person to join you in not drinking that night. This has happened to me before on more than one occasion!
Some people will not understand, and might even criticize you. Hopefully this is not the case, but this is very common when people are involved in friendships that revolve around drinking and going out. Sometimes someone’s decision to stop drinking is because they are noticing unhealthy patterns in themselves or the people around them. If this is the case for you, I suggest trying to find some like-minded people to spend time with. It is very hard to make an adjustment like this if you are constantly surrounded by those who are afraid to lose their drinking buddy or who do not agree with your decision to stop. Again, stay confident and put yourself first. You never know how the decision to take care of yourself for a while will inspire those around you in a positive way.
You will be asked “why” often. Find a simple reason that resonates with you. No answer is the wrong one even if it’s just “I don’t want to today.”
I touched on this earlier, but when you don’t drink alcohol and you are in your twenties / thirties, you will likely experience a social situation or two where everyone around you is drinking. When this happens it is easy to let yourself feel like if you don’t drink as well then you are going to feel out of place or “boring”. I won’t lie, it takes some getting used to being the only one not drinking — but you get used to it. Before you know it, you don’t even think twice about it and your ego eventually keeps its comments to itself. You still enjoy your time and people still enjoy your company. If they don’t — see paragraph #2.
My hope for you after reading this blog is that you are never afraid to stay grounded in a decision that you feel it is going to help you in your journey to feeling good and living a healthier lifestyle. There is beauty in confidence and choosing to make aligned decisions — despite the outside pressures or internal insecurities that may come up. Again, there is no judgement here you guys. If cutting alcohol doesn’t relate to you specifically, apply this to whatever it is that you are choosing to do!