Why I Gave up Drinking at 17 Years Old (Why You Should Too)
When I was 15, I listened to another story of a classmate telling me about her weekend.
I already knew what she was going to talk about…
It was about drinking and partying.
I was trying to act like I knew what she was talking about, but I had never actually drunk or partied before.
My inexperience made me feel ashamed and frustrated.
I felt that I was immature, and ‘behind’ because of my lack of experience.
So, when I finally got the opportunity to get drunk, I did.
Getting drunk is an experience that everybody has to go through.
But, after the first time, the drinking sessions started to become frequent.
I began to think that the way to have fun with friends is to drink and be completely shitfaced.
After a while, I started to feel negative about it.
The hangovers, money spent, and lack of self-control were starting to bug me.
So, I started researching the topic….
And what I found online not only made me quit drinking but even killed my desire to drink at all.
Below I present 4 reasons why I quit drinking and why you should too.
1) Why drink Poison?
Almost everyone knows that alcohol is not good for your health.
But few actually realize how bad the effects are.
Alcohol (Ethanol) is a poison, so your body has to convert it. It’s converted into acetone aldehyde which is even more toxic.
This cycle produces serious damage to your cells.
Now, what is the effect of acetone aldehyde?
The fun part:
- Getting drunk
The not-so-fun part:
- Increased level of stress (when not drinking)
- Thinning of the brain (degeneration of the neo-cortex and other brain areas)
- Increased impulsive and habitual behavior (when not drinking)
- Increased cancer risk (especially breast cancer in women)
- Decreased Testosterone (and increase in estrogen)
(these side-effects apply to everyone, not just alcoholics)
Are these side effects worth it for a couple of hours of inebriation?
2) The Social Sucess Fallacy
You are a social butterfly when you are drinking, aren’t you?
You can speak to people, make new friends, and approach women.
Now, I urge you to try the same thing without drinking.
Go to a party, club, or whatever setting you drink, and try to socialize without drinking.
Your lack of social skills will surprise you.
You conditioned yourself to only be able to socialize when you are drunk.
Alcohol robbed you of developing your social skills.
It made you think that you need to intoxicate yourself to speak to people.
3) The Ultimate Productivity Killer
What happens after you drink and party?
You don’t sleep well, and you eat shit.
You spend the next day trying to recover.
Now, you think that after a relaxing day, you recovered.
But actually, you need at least a week to recover.
For your sleep schedule to get back to normal, for your body to recover.
In that recovery period, you function at a maximum of 60% of your capacity.
Plus, you will lose all the momentum you have built up during the week, and you will be in ‘recovery’ mode the whole week.
If you have the slightest amount of ambition, you make it harder for yourself to succeed.
4) The ‘Fun’ Trap
I see this trap in the majority of people who drink.
They get trapped in the idea, of:
Fun = Getting drunk
So wherever they go or do, the only way in their eyes to ‘enjoy themselves’ and ‘relax’ is to drink.
This habit will ruin your experiences.
You won’t remember the actual fun parts of the experience, you will only remember the drinking part.
Also, alcohol will decrease your capacity to remember, so you will remember even less of the experiences than you normally would.
Conclusion
My goal with this post is not to scare you from drinking ever again.
I presented points that made me quit and I hope it will make you too.
That’s it for this week.
I hope you enjoyed it and found value!
Benedek
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