Do You Drink Alcohol Because You Like the Taste?

Here’s the really unfortunate thing about alcohol.  It’s simply, bloody amazing. This legal, globally marketed, mass produced drug.It can act as a stimulant, pain reducer, anxiety suppressor, liquid courage & confidence drug that dilutes your past to a bearable level whilst also removing the reality that you do worry about the future.

 

All whilst bending it’s affects based off what the individual desires most.

If you want a stimulant, you’ll use it to keep the party going.

If you want to grieve, you’ll use it to allow your body to feel deeply. If you want to avoid an uncomfortable moment ahead, you’ll use it to drown out the noise of your future.

If you want to forget your past, you’ll use a certain intoxication level that makes life seem bearable.

If you want time away from people, you’ll use alcohol as a secret little best friend that will keep you company.

If you want to get angry but can’t, you’ll drink and become aggressive.

If you want to cry but don’t know how or why, you’ll become overly emotional when you’re drunk.

If you want to feel comfortable and confident but don’t, you’ll use it to engage in social situations.

If you want to spend time with your partner but fear not connecting deeply, you’ll drink to avoid them or even just drink with them so you can ‘be together’.

If you don’t want to think or feel anything at all, you’ll drink to a level that you’re either hungover or intoxicated for the majority of your life. Never really being able to be still or present with yourself. You’ll be angry that you feel like shit (hungover) or happy that you no longer feel like shit (intoxicated again).

 

Not only that.

 

It’s completely socially acceptable and even encouraged to use alcohol for these reasons.

Leaving individuals scratching their heads as to why they keep drinking even though they don’t really want to.

And here’s why.

You never drink because you ‘like alcohol’ or the taste of it.

You only ever drink because of the many shifts and changes it creates within your mental, emotional and even environmental/physical world’s.

I’m not saying you don’t like the taste. I am saying, the taste Is just a part (a very small part) of why you drink.

Alcohol is what we crave. Flavours of alcohol simply justify our craving or excuse as to why we want the drink in the first place.

Gone are the days where we ignorantly overconsume alcohol and write it off as “I love the taste”.

 

You love the taste and….

When you can clearly articulate all the reasons as well as taste, as to why you drink, you’ll be a big step closer to creating a relationship with alcohol you love and respect.

When we can uncomfortably become aware that many of us (really all of us to be honest) use alcohol as a self-medicating/peak performance drug, we can own and appreciate our intake levels without a BS story to justify it.

Or we can start to reduce our intake levels without feeling inadequate to the rest, like there’s something wrong with us but not everyone else.

Drink a lot or drink a little

There’s is no right or wrong

Moderation is key and choosing what you consume is freedom

Just being honest with ourselves and knowing that sometimes we use alcohol (medication) to socialise, or we use alcohol (medication) to connect with our partner, or we use alcohol (medication) to switch off after a long day.

And if we choose to acknowledge this, we can all agree on one very important thing.

We’re all addicted and attached to consuming things that shift our mood, state, and overall sense of being.

Here’s to looking at alcohol for what it really is, and then making a choice on whether we want to be using it for those reasons.

Here’s to being honest about the power & utilisation of alcohol in our culture.

And ultimately, here’s to Drinking Less & Feeling Fresh!

 

Here are my key tips to remember when drinking less in 2023. 

 

• You don’t like the taste of alcohol as much as you like the affects it has on your body – Continue to be honest about why you drink, and you’ll find it easier to reduce your intake.

 

• It’s ok to feel inadequate when drinking less or not accepting a beverage. Social groups feed off everyone behaving the same. Feel free to challenge the group!

 

• Alcohol is medication. Become aware of why & how you use this medication in everyday life & you’ll be one step closer to choice rather than reliance or need.

 

 

• Your relationship with alcohol is a personal one. You’re allowed to drink one day and then choose to not drink the next. Daily changes in your behaviour, is the beginning of growth. Flexibility is freedom.

 

• Every single person is addicted. It is a part of life to addict & attach ourselves to people, places, memories, thoughts, substances, ideas etc etc. Don’t drink less because you’re ‘addicted’. Drink less because you’re a human being who wants more from themselves!

 

• One less beverage today, trumps a life of sobriety someday.

 

 

 

Big love,

Tommy Cartwright

Drink Less Feel Fresh