Lifestyle, food and drink, and our family life and travel adventures.
There are many occasions in which you might feel tempted to drink alcohol. If you can drink responsibly and can have fun while doing so – go for it! It’s, of course, your right to enjoy this and create memories with your friends. However, for some, staying away from alcohol is an important part of their life. They may simply wish to avoid drinking for health reasons, have never really taken to it, or they might have had a problem with it in the past. Perhaps they simply wish to find out if they CAN avoid drinking for a period of time, knowing that they are always stronger than the pull.
If someone tells you they cannot drink, or you tell someone, both hope that their statement will be understood and respected. But this can also lead you to think that you’ll no longer be any fun on a night out, or that the parties you host will be ‘lame’. That’s not the case. You needn’t get drunk to enjoy a night out, or to run an event yourself. Let us explore why:
Heading Out Earlier
When you think about it, not much actually happens after midnight in a large town or city, unless you wish for drinks. Of course, you may love clubbing or you might simply enjoy hanging around in nice bars, but aside from that – all the best shows are before this time. As are the best experiences, most of the best times to watch movies, and interesting events such as art shows, theatre presentations, and other things out of your comfort zone. So instead of starting the night at 10pm with your friends heading to the city at 11 – why not just move those hours back a bit? Having a great night on the town, seeing a great show and then coming back at around midnight allows you to wake up at a reasonable time the next day, and actually recall the nice experience you have had. In this way, you aren’t missing out on much.
Your Own Hosting
Just because you no longer drink, it doesn’t mean you need to separate yourself from your friendship group. You might simply decide to make the nights extra special by finding something to celebrate. For example, it might be that it’s a friend’s birthday and you wish to celebrate it through a low-key event with their family. You might book a restaurant or cater for them yourselves, booking an entertainer or perhaps a photo booth to add novelty to the evening. It can sound like something that you might not usually do – but that’s where the potential creative expression comes in, and at that point, you can usually have a real blast.
Your Friends Will Understand
If you lose friends because of your lack of desire to drink, those friends were not your real buddies to begin with. It’s important to know that there’s a difference between someone liking you for who you are sober vs. who you are drunk. Your friends, the ones who are worth it, will understand and will ensure you are still welcome wherever they go, provided you make an effort to keep in touch. This should lessen some of your fear when making this decision.
Let this guide never imply that we want you to give up drinking. You’re surely a rational person with your own perfect judgement. But if you wish to give up – we hope this can lessen some of your anxiety.
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
Contact: [email protected]
