How to Stop Romanticizing Alcohol
If you’re trying to curb your drinking, quit, or you have already quit, reframing alcohol is a hugely important step. Striping it of its alluring facade, and reminding yourself that alcohol is not what the Grey Goose commercials would like us to believe. You don't need booze to have fun, be sexy, funny, interesting or brave.
Here are mindset methods and tools I use when I start romanticizing alcohol and when the ol’ “this would be more fun if I had a drink” thoughts creep into my head.
1. YOU DO NOT NEED ALCOHOL TO HAVE FUN
Often, when we make the decision to quit drinking, our first response is “Oh my gosh, my life is over! How will I ever have fun again? How will I make friends? I suppose I’m going to be single forever. Can you point me to the nearest cat shelter please?”
The truth is, you can do anything you’d usually do drunk, sober. The only difference is, you won’t have a drink in your hand. Well, not an alcoholic one.
It’s actually pretty silly if you think about it. We think that by kicking alcohol to the curb, the fun will never be had again. The hope is gone. All chances of a good time obliterated.
Food for thought: If something requires poison to be deemed “fun,” in reality, that event/situation/person is objectively not that fun.
Our booze-soaked society has become so accustomed to dulling our senses and confusing ourselves until virtually any situation becomes “fun” (tolerable/muted/seen through beer goggles).
Personally, I’d rather cook a delicious meal and watch a good movie. Go on a hike, or see a comedy show, than struggle to hear a drunk story I’ve already heard over loud music. And, isn’t that truly what most alcohol-filled events consist of?
Know this: You can go to hockey games sober. You can go to concerts sober. You can go to parties sober, BBQs, camping, lakes, birthdays. Anything can be done without alcohol. You can even go out and have a drink, sober!
And chances are, the experience will end up way better than if you spent the whole time drinking. Trust me, I’ve done 10 years of research for you.
2. ALCOHOL IS A THREAT TO OUR HEALTH
Obviously, we all know this. But few people think about what alcohol really is and what it actually does to our bodies. The typical side effects include inflammation, IBS, heart disease, Fatty Liver, cancer, high blood pressure just to name a few.
And this is why according to Wikipedia:
“Ethanol, also commonly called alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and drinking alcohol is the principal type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts. It is a neurotoxic, psychoactive drug, and one of the oldest recreational drugs.
Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight chemical odor. It is used as an antiseptic, a solvent, in medical wipes and anti-bacterial formulas because it kills organisms by denaturing their proteins. Ethanol is an important industrial ingredient. Ethanol is a good general-purpose solvent and is found in paints, tinctures, markers, and personal care products such as perfumes and deodorants. The largest single use of ethanol is as an engine fuel and fuel additive.”
It’s also a Group 1 carcinogen, which puts it in the same class as arsenic, asbestos, and formaldehyde.
I sure as hell didn’t know this when I was guzzling bottle service at that club like it was water or sharing a bottle (or—seven bottles) of wine with a friend or significant other.
We are willingly consuming something that is used to make rocket fuel and is known to denature living organisms. For "fun."
If there’s anything I’ve learned over the last few years, it’s that health truly is wealth. Without it, we can’t experience life to its fullest and step into our full power and potential.
It’s the cornerstone of everything. It’s not something to be haphazardly toyed with or taken for granted.
We’ve been convinced of the dangers of cigarettes, so why is alcohol still slipping under the radar?
Never feel bad for standing up for your body and treating it with respect. With every good choice you make for it, it’s thanking you and will repay you with good health, vitality, and resilience.
3. PLAY THE TAPE FORWARD
I’ve found this phrase to be immensely helpful in putting a false alcohol daydream back in its place.
The thing about romanticizing is, it’s not based in reality.
One drink in and you look at yourself, being all controlled and talking in complete sentences, and say, “See, there’s no problem here!”
But how often do you actually stop at one or two drinks? Never.
Playing the tape forward means following that first drink through to the next morning. Sure, it starts off okay. You might even have some fun for the first hour or two. But that one drink leads to two. Two to three. Three to four…until you lose count. Then you inevitably do something stupid, say something you regret, get sick, inconvenience or embarrass your friends, or even blackout. You get a horrible sleep and wake up in a complete panic. You search for your belongings and scroll through your text messages, cringing at the texts you sent. Your heart is pounding, you feel like you just want to crawl out of your skin. You go grab some fast food, hoping it will soak up the booze. Then the guilt starts setting in. The regret. You spend the rest of the day completely useless, just trying not to throw up or think about all the stupid, things you did.
I always remind myself of that horrible, anxious feeling the next morning. For me, it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.
Sure, having a beer at a BBQ on a nice summer day sounds like a great idea. Why the hell not!?
Wait. Play the tape forward.
Bring yourself all the way through to that next morning. The 20 minutes high from your first drink or “fun,” is really not worth all the torture that follows.
That my dear is a high price to pay for fleeting happiness.
Remember what’s best for you.
4. NEW, BETTER MEMORIES
During my first year of sobriety, my mind often went back to drunk memories. Why? Well, partially because they were my most recent memories. The past ten years had been full of drinking, and everything was an excuse to drink:
It’s the Fourth of July! Let’s go watch some fireworks and drink. St Patty’s day is here, so naturally, I need some green beer. Woohoo, Halloween! Of course, this is the time to get wasted in my slutty costume. It’s my birthday! It’s someone else’s birthday, let’s party! It’s been a hard day, I deserve a glass of wine. It’s a beautiful day, let’s day drink! It's a day that ends in "Y"! You get it.
There is always an excuse to drink, and over the course of many years, that’s a lot of memories involving alcohol. But once you stop drinking, you’ll start building new, sober memories, and those will be at the forefront of your mind.
As you experience each event or situation without alcohol, you’ll begin to appreciate subtle things you had been missing out on and took for granted in your booze-induced haze.
I romanticize and revel in sobriety. My thoughts turn to how present I’ll be during activities. How much more I’ll enjoy it. How nice it will feel to fall into bed at night with a clear mind. How great it will be to wake up and feel rested and proud.
Keep going, one step, one day at a time.
Be honest with where you stand. You know in your heart. Dare to take a chance with a new way of life.
Do you find yourself romanticizing alcohol and giving it way more credit than it deserves? Let's make some kick-ass sober memories now! Download your FREE guide to a Booze-Free Happier Hour and learn how to kick booze to the corner and build a kick-ass life beyond the bottle here.