Stop alcohol

It is a while now that I radically stopped drinking any drink containing alcohol. After having seen a video from Bernard I kept on drinking a glass of wine on few occasions with friends. At home I stopped drinking already since I was the only one that still did. Last summer I had a couple of beers but that was it. While the message of Bernard’s video was still echoing in my head I had to deal with my ‘motivations’ for still keeping on drinking a glass in specific occasions. When I started to systematically work through all my justifications in self honesty I could skip them all fairly easy. Adding the fact I already started to drink wine very critically I almost every time had to conclude I did not really like the taste after I got rid of all the mind fucks that normally are used to lift the wine drinking to a higher level of ‘awareness’. I did feel also more and more the effects of alcohol on my body, even if it always has been limited to a couple of glasses and I never got drunk in my life. It did not feel right.

It has been quite easy to say no to alcoholic drinks since then. WhenI tell people I stopped drinking alcoholic drinks they sometimes ask if I still drink beer or maybe a coffee with a drop of liquor, they are having a hard time imagining someone could stop radically drinking alcohol. Well, I then explain to people when asked, it is easy since I found out I am abusing my body when I drink any kind of alcohol. Normally it stops there as if people are not willing to ask for further motivations. I will not actively tell someone more about the reasons of stopping with alcohol but if I see the right occasion I will not fail to give a full picture of what is behind alcohol: abuse, deception, money, manipulation, fear.

While looking at the video of Cenk I realize that it has been quite easy for me since I do not have a social network that is ‘floating’ on alcohol consumption. Until now I had a few occasions where people reacted surprised and one time a little embarrassed since they just gave me a bottle of wine to thank me for a favor I did for them. But nevertheless I experienced the stopping as being freed from a burden I was not aware of. I do not have to justify myself every time I am drinking, nor do I have to participate in discussions about wine and beer tasting or any other alcoholic drink that might be so special that you should not miss it. I don’t have to ask myself anymore if I like to drink a glass of wine or beer at dinner time. Try it yourself and see what you come up with to justify you are going to drink a glass of wine or something else. Try to be self honest when you do so and you will find out that you are doing it for no real reason other than excuses as you like the taste or even worse the feeling (to get drunk or less aware of the real world). I was not prepared to admit I had the same reasons when drinking a glass of alcohol, but when going down to the bare bone of the why I was drinking I could not come up with something else than looking for something that allowed me to temporarily delay the fact I had to face the real world of my every day life. Time wasting and abuse of your own body. After having seen these points it has been easy for me to decide to stop for ever.