I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July. I chose to take the holiday off from writing. I had a wonderful holiday combined of teaching, being with people I love and seeing fireworks from the cutest rooftop party in the East Village.
This blog post actually stems from my 4th of July, and while I don’t mean to sound like an old fart, I’m just so OVER society’s desire to surround most holidays or events around drinking.
Lately when meeting friends I feel compelled to order a $12 beverage that is going to potentially disrupt my sleep and leave me feeling off the following day and I made a decision to stop.
While in hindsight I’m not necessarily proud of how much I drank in college, I did, a lot. I am almost shocked how Tuesday- Sunday I was out doing something with my friends. I was able to get good grades, play soccer and still participate in what I would certainly deem as binge drinking. Looking back I’m actually disgusted.
Thankfully, it was just a stage, even though there are several members in my family with addictive tendencies, I didn’t inherit those genes. During graduate school I stopped almost drastically as my schedule and responsibilities changed.
Now, 10 years later I actually hate drinking. Hate it. Since I rarely drink, when I do my body notices when a foreign agent enters. There are only a handful of alcoholic beverages that I actually like in taste, and typically those are loaded with extra sugar, which also make me feel like garbage.
So, just this last month, unless I really want a beverage, I have been ordering club soda, even on dates. In group settings with my close friends I rarely get any feedback. On dates, they definitely take a second look and I feel obligated to share an excuse, which I’m still working on just saying, “I don’t prefer it.” Lastly, at parties or group events hardly anyone notices!
Don’t get me wrong, an ice cold glass of Rosè on a hot summer evening, or dark Cabernet in the cold of winter are sometimes what my tastes buds want and I plan to listen, mindfully, but I won’t be grabbing a beer or ordering a glass of wine if I don’t really want it.
I feel so much better making this internal decision for me, then just saying, ‘yes’ for the sake of saying, ‘yes’ because that’s what the majority does.
I’d love your thoughts regarding this! I just feel that my body feels SO good from filling it with quality food and hydrating foods and beverages, that there’s such a stark contrast when I do the opposite, it’s not worth it anymore. I don’t mean to glorify being busy but I don’t have the time, more so the energy to deal with the rebound effect and symptoms social drinking graces me with.
This is definitely a segue into practices in assertiveness for sure, but I’ll end here to let you nibble on this.
Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hydrate, xo!
