10 Reasons Cutting Alcohol Out Of My Life Was Hard, But So Worth It
A life without alcohol may not seem so difficult on the surface, but when you really consider it, it can actually be understood as a huge challenge.
Giving up alcohol means giving up a lifestyle.
It means not succumbing to peer pressure and learning how to have just as much fun drinking seltzer as you did tequila.
There is definite FOMO involved when you decide to put down the bottle and pick up healthy habits.
Gone are those cherished nights of dancing on tables, buying rounds and stumbling home with only one shoe and several inexplicable bruises.
Replacing debauchery are now sober nights, well kept sleeping schedules and new extracurricular activities that don’t involve a bar.
Because even though giving up booze is definitely difficult, a life without it can be oh so fulfilling.
You never really comprehend the time you’re wasting, the memories you’re losing and the money you’re spending until you step out from behind the curtain of intoxication and into the light of sobriety.
It’s a whole different world.
1. You remember your experiences
Once you stop drinking, you start making memories you can actually recall the next day. You may have had some of the most fun nights blacking out with your friends, but that isn’t a sustainable way of life.
You can’t really grow up if you’re spending every night getting wound up in nightlife. The experiences you’ll have you will cherish.
2. You don’t wake up hung over
When you wake up without a hangover, you have no reason to surrender your day to dry heaving and greasy food. You don’t need to sacrifice your days for your nights. You get to go out and live your life in the sun.
We’re just too old to go hard like we used to. Life needs to be about more than that.
3. You’re not throwing your money down the toilet
As Millennials, we’re just starting out on our new career paths. We don’t have excess money to spend on shots at the bar and pricey cocktails.
We need to save our pennies to make our rent and student loan payments.
When you stop going out drinking every night, you save a serious amount of cash. That should really be reason enough to sober up.
4. Your problems are real problems
And your tears are real tears. Without the coat of alcohol making all of your worries seem a 100 times more dramatic than they need to be, you’ll know the anxieties you’re facing are real, rational anxieties.
Instead of sitting in a puddle of your vodka-induced tears, you’ll be able to figure out solutions.
5. You have a stronger immune system
According to Everyday Health, drinking too much will weaken your immune system.
Remember the nights of hard partying that were subsequently followed by an unbeatable cold?
That’s because liquor can “wear away the linings of your mouth and esophagus, making it easier for viruses and bacteria to enter your body and for cold or flu to take over.”
When you stop drinking, you just end up living an even healthier, stronger existence.
6. You’re not losing friends from making stupid drunk mistakes
When you ditch alcohol, you ditch the countless bad decisions you make because of it. Those mornings of quiet contemplation, mulling over the poor choices you made, wallowing in regret will finally be behind you.
Everything you do will have a purpose and will better your relationships instead of straining them. You’ll find your need to apologize will greatly lessen.
7. You learn how to go out sober
One of the hardest things you’ll have to learn is how to go out and actually enjoy yourself without the assistance of a few martinis. You shouldn’t need booze to make you feel confident; you should be able to channel that all on your own.
Just because you’re out with your friends, and they are drinking, shouldn’t mean you should feel pressured to drink. The key is figuring out how to BE fun on your own.
8. You learn if you actually like your friends
Friends who can’t stay sober with you aren’t real friends. Everyone seems so funny, clever and interesting when you’re wearing beer goggles.
Actually having to spend quality, alcohol-free hours with your friends will definitely show you who they really are and if they are as great as you thought they were before you closed out last night.
9. You figure out you can have fun by yourself
Letting go of your toxic habits will put you in better tune with yourself.
Since the most important relationship you’ll ever have is the one with yourself, you should learn to love spending time with yourself without feeling the need to be drunk.
You’re forced to really get to know yourself when you don’t give yourself a buffer. You’ll definitely find out you’re far more interesting than you imagined.
10. You’ll just look fresher
According to the Huffington Post, alcohol is extremely damaging to the liver, meaning that it’s destroying the organ that filters toxins from your body. Alcohol also drastically dehydrates your skin, which will make you look old AF.
If you cut out alcohol, you’ll retain that youthful glow.
