my relationship with alcohol now is we're officially broken up
people if I tell them that I'm not drinking on that I don't drink there's
an element of shock to that people do question why I don't drink but at the
same time alcohol for me is more so a lifestyle choice I got to a point in my
life where alcohol didn't serve a purpose anymore it just wasn't fun for
me we can only drink and get wasted and have that many alcohol-related regrets
where you'd start thinking this is probably not working for me anymore I
just became more aware of my relationship with alcohol it's nice to
step away and think why am I drinking and like do I want to drink that much
drinking when you're younger I guess because it's so taboo you're not meant
to do it, it was really exciting it's just the thing that you want to try
because it's like you can't you're not allowed to do it until a certain age and
then you can and everyone does it and it's kind of like this cool sort of
rebellious thing. We had 21st and 18ths and you know if there was a lot of free
alcohol or we would always you know probably drink probably way too much you
drink to get wasted like we would drink out of goon bags like the most
disgusting we would mix like five different types of spirits together and
drink it like but for what reason other than to get wasted you know
There was a period of time where I had a low self-esteem so I'd use alcohol as a
diversion to to break the ice with strangers I was pretty in-confident at
the time it's so easy once you consume alcohol that all your walls drop you
feel comfortable having a drink in your hand just makes you feel like you know
you're belonging a bit more to the crowd but I think feeling like you don't need
to do that he's really kind of freeing I guess
I just realized that I didn't really need it I could just have fun without it
getting into fitness really helped me boost my confidence and therefore me was
a bigger kick or satisfaction than getting the satisfaction of you
know being drunk or intoxicated. It's just made me feel really great you know I
feel like I can exercise better I can sleep better. It just makes me feel a lot
better when I'm not having any alcohol even if it's small amounts I think
society kind of it's not really heading towards a structure where it is very
motivating for people to not drink it just kind of becomes part of the culture
that you grow up in and so it's just like what you do because everyone else
is doing it drinking I think is shown everywhere
it's really glamorized I find and a lot of like sort of societal pop culture
sort of things and on social media can be really glamorized as well as like
I'm having a good time if there's a drink in this shot I think it sort of
forces us to sort of be sort of to accept drinking as the default norm for
everyone to do that. Certainly there's elements of our society especially
alcohol induced violence you know that is worrying I think it's definitely a
problem it's not just alcohol it's all drugs
give people an alternative to what it could feel like to not have alcohol and
actually have the alternative feeling better when you're talking with people
it's really nice something to know that you're having a really good connection
with someone and it's just you and your own personality
I just don't miss it there's no part of me that thinks I really want to drink
but like don't I don't feel like I'm restricting myself at all I still feel
like I enjoy you know talking to people going out and doing all sorts of
different things I'm still able to do that without alcohol and there's so many
other things that you can do with your time you don't have to spend it wasted