Alcohol Creates Losers Who Think They're Winners

Yes, I really did just say that and I believe in it.

I wear my beliefs on my sleeve and you’re welcome to disagree with me.

Anyone who’s seen my content for long enough knows how I feel about alcohol, and how much I’m against it.

I get that your life is yours to do with it as you will, and by no means is my stance a form of enforcing a certain way of living.

However, I am firm in my belief that instead of picking up the bottle or heading to that bar, you could be doing so much more with your life than getting wasted.

Getting wasted means wasting your time, your money, and your health.

I cannot think of a more promoted, more encouraged, and more prevalent waste of time, money, and health than drinking. And you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Look around you. Open your ears.

• The go-to activity for work colleagues is to go out for drinks after work.
• Your friends invite you to go partying on the weekends.
• Don’t even get me started on the craze for underage drinking, and how cool it is to get a fake ID.
• You gotta watch game night at the local sports bar.
• People who are looking to date are told to go to bars and clubs to meet potential matches.
• “Approach that hottie and offer to buy them a drink,” they say.

And with all this drinking going around, that means money’s going down the drain that’s called your throat. Round after round. Shot after shot. Bottle after bottle.

The saddest joke of it all is that alcohol isn’t even good for you, so it blows my mind to see how much we encourage it. Drinking can take a serious toll on your health, and if you somehow don’t believe me or if you’re not aware of it, I’ll paraphrase some information you can find on the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for you.

• Alcohol dehydrates you and disrupts your sleep, which leads to fatigue and decreased productivity (a.k.a. a hangover).
• Alcohol takes a toll on your heart and can lead to high blood pressure and strokes.
• Alcohol negatively affects other organs like your pancreas and liver, giving potential rise to conditions like pancreatitis and cirrhosis.
• Drinking can weaken your immune system and slow down your body’s ability to fight off infections.
• Alcohol alters behavior in such a way that could make one potentially harmful to oneself and others.

I didn’t even need the website for that last one. You’d have to be living under a rock to not hear a story about an alcoholic getting behind the wheel and causing a car accident, or a drunk assaulting another human being.

Guess what both of those incidents have in common?

Some of this stuff is common knowledge and people still turn a blind eye to it because they’re so desperate to fit in with a society that drinks and they’re afraid of being perceived as “unfun” because they “don’t know how to loosen up” by drinking.

On the other hand, if you join the folks for drinks, if you bring alcohol to the party, if you can take shots without slowing down or throwing up, you’re “cool.”

Imagine that. Being considered the loser because you don’t want to waste your time, your money, and your health.

Who’s really losing in this situation?

“Normal” doesn’t always mean “good.”

I think alcohol gets such a pass from so many people because drinking is an activity that’s considered “normal.” And that’s what concerns me.

Getting buzzed and feeling good about yourself after getting some alcohol in your system isn’t a benefit; it’s a quick fix. There’s a difference. And you wouldn’t need the quick fix if you knew how to manage your own happiness and state of mind sober.

People get horrified when they hear about a drunk driving car accident and yet they go out for drinks the next day and get behind the wheel themselves.

People laugh at the drunk stumbling on the street with his pants down and yet get blackout drunk the same night, completely ignorant of the fact that they could’ve made a fool of themselves that night too.

It’s absolutely comical.

Why should any of this be considered normal and acceptable behavior?

Why do we give people a pat on the back for coming out to get wasted and a slap to the face if they decide not to, and then tattoo “loser” on their forehead?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned early on in my childhood about human behavior, it’s this:

Segregation was normal. Slavery was normal. Women not having the right to vote was normal.

Should we have turned a blind eye to those too?

Do better. Be better.

These are the facts, and they are undisputed. The truth can be polarizing, but I’m not here to dilute it. I’m here to deliver it.

Alcohol is a problem, a prevalent one at that, and it’s shocking how much people basically marry it because they don’t know how else to socialize, gather, and have fun in its absence.

I’m not against the occasional drink. I understand that alcohol makes certain beverages taste good for certain people. Like I said at the start of this article, I’m not enforcing a certain way of living.

And obviously I’m not saying that everyone who drinks is a loser.

But I am tired of hearing all the praise that alcohol gets and how much people absolutely “need” it in this day and age when really, it’s not needed for any social activity or gathering at all.

• I’m tired of how people who choose not to drink get shamed and questioned, as if their choice is something outlandish.
• I’m tired of watching people turn to the bottle because if they don’t, they’ll be mocked.
• I’m tired of seeing alcohol screw up relationships because someone couldn’t get a grip.
• I’m tired of witnessing an ever-growing dependence on such a harmful and dangerous activity.

It gets lauded like it’s something to fall back on.

Some people consume alcohol as a social lubricant because they don’t have the guts to navigate social interactions sober.

It’s become commonplace for someone to wait to get a few drinks in them before they approach someone attractive to shoot their shot (pun intended). That’s cowardly, and that’s the bottom line.

And I might get lit up for saying this but the same applies to people who drink to hide from their problems. Drinking to cope also wastes your time, your money, and your health. You’re already in a bad spot, and you’re kicking yourself while you’re down.

As I said earlier, drinking is a quick fix. Once you sober up, you’ll hopefully wake up and realize that not only are you actually no closer to solving your problem, but you’re also with a little less money which has been replaced with wasted time, and you’re not doing your health any favors.

Why don’t we normalize sober fun? Why don’t we normalize:

• Going for a walk along the beach instead of going to the bar?
• Playing board games instead of playing with your health?
• Hitting the gym instead of hitting the local pub?
• Reading a book instead of reading the drink menu?

Oh, right. Because reading and getting in shape are boring activities. You have better things to do, like waste your time, your money, and your health.

Do better. Be better.