Ten Things I’ve Learned From Not Drinking Alcohol

Josh Bowman has learned a few things from taking a break from alcohol.

Originally appeared at Ten Things I’ve Learned

Note: I’m taking a hiatus from drinking alcohol. My previous hiatus was in university and lasted pretty much two years.

1. Drinking is expensive, especially at bars. Having extra disposable income is a nice reward.
2. Being sober when everybody around you is drunk at a party is like trying to make sense of a dream while in the dream. Why is that man standing on a table? Who are all those people, and why are they slurring?
3. At its best, drinking alcohol can loosen you up and make you feel happy and silly! But then again, there are lots of times I just go home and feel so damn depressed. Then I wake up and I’m all like “what was I so sad for?”
4. Alcoholism is, to some extent, hereditary.  Since my grandparents were alcoholics, alcohol has had a more menacing connotation for our family.
5. I like to know I can control my body if I need to. I can shape it with exercise. I can push it to work harder. I can go without sleep. “I am in charge…body!”
6. When you don’t do things, people like to push you to do things, or don’t understand why you don’t do those things. I also mentioned this in my post about not smoking weed.
7. Alcohol is fundamentally built into so many social events. Wine and cheeses, networking events, going to a bar after work, first dates. It’s an active and unconventional choice to not drink when you are at an event like that (and you aren’t driving).
8. Throwing up is really terrible so…I can’t say I’ll miss that.
9. Being a social drinker is fine, but when you are socializing 4-5 nights a week, it can get excessive.
10. When I don’t drink, I need some other kind of emotional release. I’m thinking….mixed martial arts?