I Don't Drink Alcohol Like A Degenerate Anymore. This TikTok Explains Why
An important life lesson from a Ryan Holiday TikTok
When I was 16, my dad told me I was born with a metaphorical Russian Roulette revolver aimed at my head.
A curious thing to say to a teenager, but it was his way of driving home a point.
Because of the history of alcoholism in my family, it was likely that I carried “that” gene. The gene that turns one harmless drink into a thousand nights of regret. The gene that has caused the destruction of so many decent and talented people.
It turns out that I don’t have that gene, but I didn’t always have a healthy relationship with alcohol, either.
For the longest time, I didn’t see the harm in binge drinking. I enjoyed “the chase.” I liked staying up till 3 am and waking up in someone else’s bed, unable to find my underwear.
It’s all a part of the young adult program. Or so I thought.
Winston Churchill once said to his wife, “Always remember, I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.”
I wish I could say the same, but I’m working to settle the score.
Here’s a TikTok from my favorite writer that’s really helped me discover the value of moderation.
There’s a high price for that kind of fun.
It’s a comical TikTok when you think about it.
One of the most successful writers in the world gets up early in Las Vegas, sober as a meditating monk, and has a stoic insight about all the hungover faces he sees on The Strip.
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“You can have fun in Las Vegas, but as I run around the streets, I can see the price that some of these people are paying for the fun.”
I quit going out regularly long before this video, but it reminded me why I practice moderation:
The hangover far outweighs the pleasure you get from drinking.
When I say hangover, I’m not talking about the morning after, the walk of shame, or the inability to be productive the next day (although those are certainly consequences).
I’m talking about the long-term effects of making drinking a part of your identity.
I cut a good friend out of my life because of his drinking problem — My college roommate.
One of the funniest people I knew. We spent so much time together that people on campus called him my other half.
But he couldn’t say no to drugs and alcohol.
When others started telling him no, the lies and stealing started. People got hurt.
To say he stopped being himself is an understatement.
He gained weight.
He stopped being funny.
His relationships became toxic.
It was like he stopped being human.
The 70s rock band Pink Floyd lost a bandmate to addiction and wrote a hauntingly beautiful song about him. A song about how you can still care about someone, no matter how much they hurt you.
He got kicked out of our fraternity house and eventually kicked out of school.
It’s a sad fate that I wish to avoid.
Why?
Because it says you lack responsibility and purpose, it says there might be other problems in your soul that you’re trying to escape from.
Alcohol is an easy excuse.
Nothing should have that much control over you.
I’m no priest or anything. I’ve just switched my mindset about drinking from a way to escape and chase girls to one of responsibility, temperance, and kinship.
I don’t drink to get drunk. I take no pleasure in drinking on my own. Usually, I am the first person at the bar who wants to leave.
You can call me lame or old, but I simply don’t want anyone or anything, including alcohol, to control my actions.
Why? Because I have work to do, and every developing leader knows that the hard part is NOT winning over external enemies. It’s conquering the demon within.
That’s all.
Besides, You really don’t need alcohol to have fun.
That type of restraint becomes easy once you prioritize other things in your life.
Over the past few years, I’ve become a writer and a runner — neither mix well with mixed cocktails.
I still have many problems I’m working through, but I try to remember that choosing alcohol won’t solve them. Only better choices can do that.
Besides, you can have fun without blacking out.
In the video, Ryan Holiday tells the story of Timotheus, the Greek statesman, who told Plato after a party, “your dinners are enjoyable not only when one is eating them but on the morning after as well.”
Meaning they had fun without taking five, $26 tequila shots.
And if you go home early from the bars, the odds are you’re not missing anything. Successful people already understand this.
Instead, get up early with a clear mind. Indulge yourself in your purpose and work.
Oddly enough, I’ve found even more pleasure and freedom within those borders.