I quit drinking

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I am not, nor ever was an alcoholic. But four years ago when I hit the age that magically allows one to partake of alcohol, I did what everyone else does and began drinking. A beer or two here, a shot of whisky there. Occasionally I'd binge, usually in a futile effort to appear more social, and sometimes to the point of excess.

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I don't like the feeling of drunkenness, that I don't like the degraded function of mind that arises from alcohol, and that most of all I despise the stunted performance and general malaise which always accompany the 12 to 18 hours following overconsumption of spirits. And by comparison, oh how I do enjoy the feeling of being sober! So I therefore, logically and reasonably, decided that I would not drink any more.

I will make a few exceptions. One is a single beer to accompany a hearty dinner. You simply cannot appreciate a good German jaeger-schnitzel without a flavorful hefeweissen, to give one example. And a greasy pizza will only stew in the gut unless the digestion is kick-started by a glass of beer. Second is a single ceremonial shot when toasting fallen comrades: those who have gone before us, and whose memory we honor.

And that's it. Drinking for the sake of drinking is outa here.

So far it's only been a couple weeks, but I feel a renewed vigor and inspiration, I have more energy, I think better, and I can enjoy my weekends instead of spending them hung over and pissed off. And interestingly, I have more money too. I'm not even sure what utility I saw in alcohol, in the first place.

Heh heh. There is one more reason why I am doing this. I happened to mention to a few of my colleagues that I was considering giving up alcohol. They scoffed and said they did not believe I would ever be able to do it. So this will help to keep me honest, as it will please me tremendously to spite them. I lived just fine without alcohol for 21 solid years. Looking back, I can attribute exactly zero of my many successes of the last four years to alcohol.

This is going to be awesome.

man, congrats. i havent had a drink in 4 days or so and im having withdrawls

I think that's totally awesome of you!

Congrad's

I didn't drink till dec 11 last year, I've given up for a year before, now i'm gonna stop again for a long while.

I haven't had a drink for a few weeks now. I can't say I miss it too much. More money in my pocket and less time spent in the pub sounds like a win/win!

Its a great thing to do, if just for the reassurance that you have the strength to make a decision like that and stick by it.

I abstained from alcohol, caffeine and over the counter pain relief for a month a while ago. Was very liberating, never felt so clear minded.

But I'm too romantic about the drunkard lifestyle. Plus I'm a poet, and poets either die from Syphilis or alcohol poisoning. I'll go for the latter.

Lucky you! Stick with it. Like you said, it saves money nd you feel better. I wish I could pass it up, but something needs to make me sleepy...

I haven't had a drink in over 2 years. Yes I consider myself "alcoholic" (I repeatedly drink to excess and feel I can't control it). I usually don't miss it anymore, but sometimes I just want to get smashed. Usually because I wish I didn't have AS and want to be like NT people, but it never worked before so I doubt it's going to work now.

I used to drink quite a bit in high school, even more in collage and still more at social gatherings and bars, I realized just less then a year ago how much I hate the feeling of being drunk, the feeling afterwards (I dont really get hang overs so much, but its not pleasant eather, just not as severe). I think it was a few years long phase that I grew outa, I just decided one day not to drink more then a few beers a night anylonger and stuck with it without any real attempt, just stopped.

Good idea man, one can screw up and make mistakes when under the influence, I much rather prefer being sober as well. I think sometimes some of us have to grow up a bit to realize that we dont need that crutch to be social.