(02-12-2010, 02:43 AM)colorado Wrote: I have actually been thinking about this a lot recently. Ever since I started on my little journey, my desire to drink has gone down markedly. However, I'm in college and live with 4 other college guys and of course they drink, so its hard to avoid it completely. I still go out with them to the bars sometimes (maybe once a week or so), but the next day I always semi-regret it. I don't like the hangovers, obviously, but I also feel more disconnected with myself and others after drinking. There is a kind of a haze that fills my mind the next day after I drink, that I have grown to dislike since starting on my spiritual path. I suspect that I will continue drinking with my college friends until I graduate and move on, at which point I probably won't drink very often at all. However, I hope to go to graduate school after I graduate, and if there is one thing I have learned from my sister, it is that graduate students enjoy drinking almost as much as undergraduates. So, I guess I'll see what happens
My experience is along similar lines. I used to drink 2~3 times a week cuz I have a 3-day weekend in college. Long story short, I hardly ever drink at all cuz I have no desire any more, but still drink on occasion when my friends really want me to tag along...
(02-12-2010, 08:22 PM)ahktu Wrote: As for other people drinking, I really don't see why it is necessary. I don't understand why people wouldn't want to just be themselves- why they need to drink something in order to be able to have fun, but just because I don't understand it doesn't make it wrong in my head. I don't enjoy being around people who become obnoxious when intoxicated, and I've had some experiences with violent drunks, but obviously not everyone who drinks behaves in this way. Basically if you aren't hurting or offending anyone and you aren't depending on it to get you through the day, I'm not going to say it's wrong to drink. It just isn't something I can get my head around, as I have no desire to do it at all.
I obviously can't speak for everyone and probably can't speak for many at that, but it was never really a need for me. I used to always enjoyed being drunk/stoned/hard-drugged-up more than being sober, though I didn't have to be. I guess I'm kind of a softy now >< I don't mind being intoxicated in any form still, but I kind of like being myself, even more than being under the influence.
~Just a side note, to prevent/cure hangovers: Take a multivitamin before you drink (food will postpone the onset of alcohol's effects), drink water whenever it's available while you're drinking, take a multivitamin with a glass of water before sleep. In the morning, aspirin, water, a banana, and an egg will do you well if the first things haven't warded off the hangover. Force it down!!! Time cures hangovers eventually, and if all that fails, try to have fun whilest hung over
