I stopped drinking alcohol 4.5 years ago.

I was tired of giving into social pressure when going out.

I also didn’t enjoy how I felt after drinking alcohol.

As an introvert growing up, alcohol had been helpful for me to open up and express myself.

Yet, there were more negative experiences with alcohol than positive.

Using alcohol as a tool for self-expression meant that I wasn’t maturing and was handicapped by a liquid in order to be more of myself.

I also had situations where alcohol unlocked a hidden part of myself - my suppressed emotions that I had shoved down for years.

Any part of ourselves that we separate from ourselves becomes part of our shadow.

This is a deep topic and it’s part of the reason why only 2% of humans fully mature as adults.

In my case, I had struggled with anger and rage for years.

Finally, one night after going out for drinks after a terrible break-up, my rage exploded onto my brother after hours of listening to him taunt me.

I hurt one of the closest people in my life.

Badly.

It took 4 full-grown men to hold me back from continuing to pound my brother’s face.

Rage truly blinds you.

I was horrified at what I had done.

Yet, I couldn’t ignore who I had become.

Alcohol is a depressant and inhibitor - which means the parts of myself which had been hidden for years, could finally start to come to the surface, with my ego’s willpower depleted.

That night I vowed to change my life.

The physical and emotional harm I had done to my brother was inexcusable.

That summer, I began doing inner work and embarked on my healing journey.

Within 18 months, I successfully eliminated alcohol from my life.

I’ve never felt better without it.

So let’s dive into the impact of alcohol on your body.

#1.) What Alcohol Does To Your Body

Alcohol destroys our bodies.

There’s no nice way of saying this.

Alcohol has been a cultural part of our societies for millennia.

Over the past few decades, extensive research has been conducted on the effects of alcohol on our brain, bodies, liver, and vital organs.

The verdict is in.

Alcohol kills brain cells, confuses the body, and leads to a host of negative side effects, especially the more we drink and the more often we drink.

Scientists have also found that one of the main ways that alcohol harms us is by how it damages our DNA.

According to Dr. Esser: ​

“When you drink alcohol, your body metabolizes it into acetaldehyde, a chemical that is toxic to cells. Acetaldehyde both “damages your DNA and prevents your body from repairing the damage,” Dr. Esser explained. “Once your DNA is damaged, then a cell can grow out of control and create a cancer tumor.”

Another way that alcohol harms us is through oxidative stress.

This is another form of DNA damage that hurts the cells that line blood vessels.

This can lead to stiffened arteries which leads to higher blood pressure or coronary artery disease.

There’s also at least 7 different cancers directly correlated with alcohol consumption.

Even alcohol in small amounts per week has a negative impact on our health.

This may be uncomfortable to hear.

Especially depending on your relationship to alcohol.

But from a neutral perspective, there is no benefit to keeping alcohol in our lives.

However, having some boundaries is helpful if you choose to keep it in your life.

If you decide to keep drinking, be aware of the impact on your health, potential weight gain, and increased risk of diseases.

The more alcohol we consume, the more likely it is to overeat, make poor health choices, and fall off track of our health journeys.

(photo courtesy of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism)

Use Berardi’s Law here to your advantage.

Prioritize setting up your environment before consuming alcohol.

The second tip I’d suggest is capping your alcohol per week.

Create a maximum weekly cap on the amount of drinks you’ll consume.

Rather than drinking a wine bottle every few days, consider having 3 glasses MAX weekly.

Rather than drinking 6 beers over the weekend, cap yourself at 2-3 per weekend.

Your cap is what you will not tolerate going ABOVE.

Of course, you could also remove alcohol completely as an alternative.

I’ve found it to be liberating but the best way to find out is to test this for yourself.

#2.) Find New Ways To Have Fun

There are other ways to have fun.

If you choose to, you can reframe your relationship with alcohol by seeking out alternative experiences.

Mocktails. Juices. Dancing. Singing. Karaoke. Talking. Exercise.

These and other examples are of ways to swap out the drinking experience for a similar experience of having fun.

Humans want to have fun and play.

At our core, we’re creative beings.

Self-expression is part of what it means to be creative.

The reason why alcohol is popular within mainstream society is because many of us haven’t learned how to become fully self-expressed each day.

It’s only in the moments when we use an external stimulant does our guard come down and we’re able to showcase a glimpse of self-expression.

But there’s other ways to do this without destroying your health.

How?

Brainstorm other activities that you enjoy and have fun doing.

As social creatures, bonding to each other is important.

But so is our health.

A potential homework piece if you’re uncertain on how to have fun without alcohol is to get clear on 1-3 ways you can have fun without using alcohol, drugs, weed, or external stimulants.

Once you clarify this, go test this out.

See how it goes.

And retest.

Practice doesn’t make perfect.

It makes permanent.

Keep practicing and send a reply back if you’d like to share your progress a few weeks from now. 🙂

​

- Gabriel

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