Drinking Too Much

I am sure that a lot of people reading this have at some point in their life had too much alcohol in one night.  I know I have and still, at least once a year, push the limits of how much I can drink and end up with a hangover the next day.  So why am I writing about this when so many of us have experienced it?   Mainly because I had a business meeting at a bar last night and got to witness what turned out to be a quite hilarious event.  When we arrived, there were only a few people in the bar as it was still quite early, even for a Wednesday.  At the bar were two couples and it just so happened that one of the girls turned out to be a lush.  (Can I definitely confirm this, no, but I will run with it.)  As the night progressed, at least the 2 hours that I was there, she went from being this quiet girl at the bar, to this loud, overly friendly, boisterous, unbalanced drunk.  When a friend she knew walked in, the entire bar could hear her welcome him with a scream.  By the time she left, she needed help making it to the door so she wouldn't fall, and ended up forgetting things at the bar which her friend grabbed for her.  Maybe this incident struck a cord with me as I actually dated a lush once or maybe its just been such a long time since I have seen an incident like this occur.  Regardless, it brought to mind the many drunken nights I had myself when I was younger and got me thinking about why some people feel it is such a necessity to get to a drunken point when out at a bar and on a weekday no less.

Now let me preface the rest of this by saying that I myself have been drunk on a weekday at a bar although I didn't need help to make it out the door.  Why did this one girl drink too much?  Obviously there could be many reasons for it from low self esteem to lack of personal control to peer pressure to drink as much as possible etc.  I am actually going to run with low self-esteem looking at it from an outside perspective.  (Now I could be totally wrong, so bear with me.)  Out of the two girls at the bar, her friend definitely looked better than she did, thinner, better looking, and better dressed.  Maybe it was she subconsciously saw this and in an effort to make herself feel better about herself she kept on drinking till she reached that "happy" point, which for her was a little too much.  It wasn't like she was trying to keep up with her friend because her friend maintained control of her own drinking and had no trouble walking or talking for that matter when they left.  I don't know the exact reason so I will end my speculation.  Regardless of why she drank too much, she did, and when you look at it from an outside perspective it is much easier to criticize than if you are in that position yourself.  For me, it reinforces my own desire to maintain a certain amount of control with my drinking.  I have learned how much I can have, how much I should have, and usually stop at that point, especially if I am driving.  (It wasn't always the case).

Looking at myself when I was younger, I would have to say that the many nights I drank too much started off as peer pressure (not explicit in your face peer pressure, but the more subtle desire to keep up with your friends type of pressure).  Eventually it grew to the point where I was drinking every night just to drink every night regardless of who I was with.  I actually had my week planned so every night I would be at a different bar usually with something fun going on or a good crowd.  Luckily I was able to reign my drinking habit in and keep a certain amount of control over it.  Unfortunately there are many who can't.  Whatever the cause is behind drinking too much, unless there is a damn good reason to stop, many people can't see a reason to.  Don't get me wrong, I am not against drinking.  I had two beers last night when I was out, but that was it.  I think that a big part of the problem comes with self control.  When we are younger, our tolerance is higher and we feel invincible so we pay no heed to the amount we drink necessarily.  (There are many who never touch alcohol, but I am speaking about those that do).  We do not feel the need to control anything, but rather let things take their course and see where things lead.   When we get older, we can't handle the alcohol as well and for the majority of us drinkers, we learn how to control things so that our alcohol intake is limited and we don't completely self destruct. 

I feel that as much as alcohol can be addictive, I feel that if a person does not have self control, then alcohol will take over and become an addiction.  People can say that it is due to brain chemistry, genetics, whatever; but in the end it all comes down to how you can control yourself.  Every person, I believe, has it in them to control their own actions.  To submit consistently to a desire to drink or for that matter perpetuate any addiction, is to give in to that substance and in essence say that you have no self control.  It comes down to how we look at life, how we deal with situations, and how we react to them.  Do some people need help to obtain that control over their own lives?  Yes, but it is up to them to realize that and seek that help.  No matter how many times you tell someone that they need help, unless they realize it for themselves, your words will have no effect.  There must be a balance in everything and there are many who can't see that.  Today, look at your own actions.  Are there any that are addictive in nature that are usurping your control over yourself?  Or are you balanced and sustainable?  Wherever you are in life, there is always room for improvement, to increase balance, and increase self control.  This doesn't mean that we can't have the night every once in a while where we go nuts and drink too much, we just must keep in mind that our bodies require balance and maybe we should back off a little after that crazy night till we regain our control.