I call it "Our Unfaithful Friend". Alcohol has been a friend to myself and to many of the people I have known for most of my 65 years. We have put our faith and trust in it, but it has repaid us with deceit and betrayal.
I was a moderate drinker for about 40 years beginning about age 20, but I don't think anyone would have called me an alcoholic.
I never missed work because of alcohol. I was never stopped for drunk driving, though there were a few occasions when I should have been. I had a few pretty good binges but never became violent or had blackouts. I consider my alcohol use to have been fairly average.
About six years ago I stopped for various reasons, including health considerations. Time passed and I began to reconsider the effect alcohol has had on my life and those I cared about. I've had good times and bad in my life, but I cannot escape the conclusion that alcohol has robbed me and those I cared about of the full measure of happiness we might have enjoyed.
So I'm resolved to write on this topic. I want to show that alcoholic happiness is a pale shadow of the real thing, that it poisons our relationships with those who might bring us joy, and that, quite simply, no one should ever drink, ever.
If you are ready to openly consider the role of alcohol in your life, I invite you to join me on this journey.
Steve, you may be right about this. My two drinks most nights are the flip side of my four cups of tea most mornings, assisting my daily ups and downs, but I think they both make me worse. I'll try to reduce both.
ReplyDeleteI do foresee a social problem—my brother loves going out for beers, and I need to be with him when he's in a good mood. Maybe it would be enough to reserve drinking for social occasions, and just have one.
Now I remember the old saying: "never drink alone". Maybe they were right!