Why I Never Drink

I have always wanted to write about this topic, but I was too afraid to because what if I shared too much information, you know? But… what if I wasn’t alone? What if someone has gone through an experience in the past that influenced their actions and behaviors today just like me? I just want to put this out there again that I am open to writing about my past experiences because there may be someone out there who has been through this or are currently going through the same situation as me.

There are several reasons why I don’t drink alcohol, but what I experienced in my past is the main reason. Way back when I had to go to the other parents’ house every other weekend was when I started to watch every single thing that was going on around me. Honestly, I witnessed things an 8-year-old shouldn’t ever see and where a child at that age shouldn’t ever be. I still remember every detail so clearly.

When it was his weekends  (biological father, not dad anymore to me), the weekend would sometimes consist of being at smokey bars late at night like around 3 A.m. and going to parties where people drink. The memory I will never forget is watching him be upside down while drinking beer from a keg at a party. The game was that you had to stay upside down for a certain amount of seconds and whoever does that the longest, wins. Well, he was definitely drunk to the point he injured his head and threw up. I still cannot believe I witnessed all of that with me being just a child at the time. As I was watching, I thought to myself, “I will never be like him.” I literally took mental notes about what I didn’t want to do when I grow up and drinking/getting drunk was one of them.

I will never forget those times because everything I went through made me into a person  I am today.

Some people do joke around with me and ask me if I want an alcoholic beverage especially when they know I don’t drink. I always say no thank you. I tend to find it difficult to explain the reason behind why I just don’t do it. I feel like no matter how hard I try to include all the little details of what I experienced, people won’t truly understand what I went through as a child.

Another reason why I don’t drink is that I don’t want to get so drunk that I forget where I am or who I am with. I don’t want to be taken advantage of and alcohol is also bad for our bodies. I will never allow myself to just drink when I am stressed and rely on alcohol to make me feel better. I understand people do that and there are other things that help me to not stress out. I find that by listening to Christian music, it helps to lower my stress levels.

I also want to point out that I am Catholic. For those who don’t know, at every Mass we have Communion. It is where we consume the bread and wine, which it is the Body and Blood of Christ. I truly do believe in that. To be honest, I haven’t drunk the wine since I had my First Communion in second grade and I am in college now. I always skip drinking the wine and people probably judge me for doing that, but who knows. I remember the taste of it and I didn’t care for it at all.

If you are like me who hasn’t had any alcohol beverages like people your age, please don’t let others peer pressure you into doing it. If you don’t want to then you don’t have to. Please don’t give in and drink only because all of your friends are drinking. Stay true to who you are. Honestly, life is better without partying it up on the weekends and drinking. Lastly, it doesn’t matter what people think or say about you. I say so be it if they don’t like your perspective about drinking. You do you.

I am not judging people who do drink, this is just how I view alcohol because of the experiences I had from my past. I hope everyone doesn’t take it the wrong way and I am proud of myself for opening up about this. I pray this helps someone who feels pressured to drink for the first time and that someone may be scared about what others may think about them. Be yourself no matter what.