Alcoholics Anonymous

The Perfect Friday Night – watching a movie at home

An amazing thing has been happening amongst the friends with which I surrounded myself. A trend (seemingly worldwide) to reduce the consumption of alcohol in favour for good times with a clear head, and one which you remember, one which you enjoy, one in which you are not desensitising your senses to the point in which you lose all sense of reality.

Once I learnt to be sober in an environment in which alcohol consumption is the norm, I began to find all social situations, easier. No longer did I require a drink before talking to the girl/boy/stranger, no longer did I need to reach for a drink because I had a bad day or was feeling sad. Socialising became natural and I was able to feed off the energy of others around me.

In drinking situations I gained the freedom to be less self-conscious. Happier because I felt free to act as I pleased, say what I was thinking rather than holding back until I could hide behind the excuse of “It was the alcohol talking, not me”. Alcohol is not only just another drug that is both legal and socially accepted, it also removes hesitation, the bad type of hesitation that stops you talking to the girl/boy, stops you dancing to your favourite song, it takes away that voice that holds you back “Oh but what will people think”. Learning to live without the reliance on this social drug is a true eye opening freedom. Having the confidence to go to a bar/club/party and not drink, knowing that I will have a good time because I am with good people and good music is a liberating feeling.

“Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of dose.”

— Claude Bernard, French physiologist

I love to dance. My friends like to drink. I still occasionally go out, chat to strangers in bars, dance in clubs and more often than not I find myself the last person dancing. I have learnt to live without the need for alcohol and in doing so have saved money, improved my health, and improved my self-confidence. As with everything, moderation is key along with the conscious realisation of what you are doing, and how it is affecting you, then making choices based on your own experience rather as appose to doing it because it is simply the accepted norm. Everyone has their vice, not everyone who drinks does so to lose control, and everyone has their own way to unwind and enjoy themselves, for some it is watching the sunset from the top of a hill with friends, for others it is drinking in a bar.

And at the end of the day, I’d rather be fit and healthy, wake up on a Sunday morning and go climbing.

The Perfect Saturday Night – camping on a sandbar in the middle of a river in the middle of a city, chatting about life with friends