Introduce yourself & your "reason" thread

acorntoast

Gorteen wrote: »

Would love to give up drinking.

I never miss work, get into fights, get arrested for drink driving but still think I need to give up. I used to enjoy having a few pints with the lads but lately have been drinking at home (thanks Lidl, for all the cheap beer!! ).

Drinking just seems to be increasing in importance in my life, if that makes any sense. I am aware I'm drinking more than I should and have begun to hide the extent of my drinking (putting cans quickly into bin, just in case anyone sees how many I've had, etc).

Wish me luck...... I may need it!!

Good luck Gorteen - try putting something else into your life maybe - something else that will combat whatever is triggering you to drink. Like - maybe you are drinking cos you're bored or stressed - then do something to alleviate boredom or stress? I definitely think exercise helps to a huge extent with both of those.

Very very best of luck.

flanzer

Right, I'm 29 now. Between the ages 18-24 I binged drank quite a lot, maybe 2/3 nights a week (sure didn't we all!) Then I cut back ages 24-27, binge drank half as much. Over the last 2 years I've cut back quite a bit. As time went on, drink was becoming less agreeable with me

I've a 3 month old daughter now and went out Friday night and only finished suffering from the hangover at 10 this morning. I'm feel real bad that I couldn't give her or my partner my undivided attention and it's not the way I want to be. Alcohol never agreed with my Dad either, so he nipped it in the bud before it became uncontrollable and he's been tee-total almost 25 years now and I think I should follow suit.

I'm somewhat scared at the thought but I know it's for the best, for me, my health, my partner but most of all, my daughter.

I think more and more people are socialising less in the current climate so I'm hoping this will aid my quest. I'm in a great job and am 99% sure I'll keep it, even if everything goes tits up, so I should have more money for my daughters upbringing!

So from this day forth folks, this will be a forum I'll be frequenting the most, on those Friday and Saturday nights after I put the baba down....

acorntoast

Good on you Flanzer!

up the town

Gorteen wrote: »

Would love to give up drinking.

I never miss work, get into fights, get arrested for drink driving but still think I need to give up. I used to enjoy having a few pints with the lads but lately have been drinking at home (thanks Lidl, for all the cheap beer!! ).

Drinking just seems to be increasing in importance in my life, if that makes any sense. I am aware I'm drinking more than I should and have begun to hide the extent of my drinking (putting cans quickly into bin, just in case anyone sees how many I've had, etc).

Wish me luck...... I may need it!!

Best of luckon your Mission. I definitley agree that the drinking should be replaced with something else, sport is a great way. Although the hardest time is at night when most things are closed. Try reading or something. When you want a drink ring someone who you know that doesnt drink, and try talking about what is pushing you towards drink.
Im nearly off the drink 3 years and life does get much better, and it does get easier.

Best of luck.:)

Pi^2

Hey guys, never really looked for a straight edge forum and was worried it wouldn't exist, but alas here it is. I'm 19, never tried alcohol. Don't have any intention of doing it. I get enough "you look locked" comments by being sober and I'm plenty capable of talking to anyone and can clear my head in novel ways so why bother with alcohol like..

CianRyan

Pi^2 wrote: »

Hey guys, never really looked for a straight edge forum and was worried it wouldn't exist, but alas here it is. I'm 19, never tried alcohol. Don't have any intention of doing it. I get enough "you look locked" comments by being sober and I'm plenty capable of talking to anyone and can clear my head in novel ways so why bother with alcohol like..

Thank god, i thought id be the only person here under 21!

syngindub

Hey All,
Great to hear the experiences of others on the subject of Non-Drinking.
I decided to give up the Drink myself at the start of this year. I'm only quitting for 6 weeks. The main reasons for doing this are

1. To purely see if i could do it. I have never given up for more than a week since i started drinking about 13 years ago.

2. To lose some weight. Before i gave up the Drink i weighted 15 stone. Into Day 9 now of no drink. Mixing a fairly decent diet with plenty of running and exercise bike. 1/5 stone lost. I'm pretty happy with that and has given me plenty of motivation to keep going. My target weight is 13 1/5 stone.

During the first few days my other half was having her usual glass of red and odd bottle of beer in the evening. I could see her waiting for me to grab myself a glass and join but i think she is getting the message now. I seem to have made her drink a lot less also. Which is positive.

Anyway, best of luck to everyone

titan18

CianRyan wrote: »

Thank god, i thought id be the only person here under 21!

No,I'm here too

cHaTbOx

Hi guys,
I am 18 and do science in UCD .I really have no reason to give up that comes to mind. Never got hangovers , always happy drinker etc. but I don't see why I should be able to have good time without it.

Would love it if I could organise a few things and go along to a few thing, gigs etc. I don't know just throwing it out there .
Anyway hi and it will be nice to get to know ya:)

Nymph

Surprisingly enough it was on starting college that I felt myself being pushed away from drinking. I'd never drank before and I didn't want to be one of those students whose conversations revolved around getting hammered and not remembering what I'd gotten up to the night before etc. I'm nearly 22 now and am in my final year in college. I've had one or two drinks over the past few years (never going beyond 2 drinks in a night) and didn't see the point me drinking alcohol rather than anything else. For a while I wondered if I was missing out on something, but my experiences on nights out and nights in would only strenghten my resolve. Maybe I will drink one day but, as it is, I'm fine as I am.

thusspakeblixa

random chatbox wrote: »

Hi guys,
I am 18 and do science in UCD .I really have no reason to give up that comes to mind. Never got hangovers , always happy drinker etc. but I don't see why I should be able to have good time without it.

Would love it if I could organise a few things and go along to a few thing, gigs etc. I don't know just throwing it out there .
Anyway hi and it will be nice to get to know ya:)

Chatbox!
Yay!
JOIN US! Non drinking ftw!

LOL. :pac:

cHaTbOx

thusspakeblixa wrote: »

Chatbox!
Yay!
JOIN US! Non drinking ftw!

thanks man , might make this place a little more lively

Moonbaby wrote: »

LOL. :pac:

what you LOLing at ? my hair ? I got it cut?:o

random chatbox

random chatbox wrote: »

what you LOLing at ? my hair ? I got it cut?:o

I was sniggering at Blixias excitable response.


Ouuhh I don't about that...I mean your hair is your defining physical characteristic.
WHo are you now?

cHaTbOx

Moonbaby wrote: »

I was sniggering at Blixias excitable response.

what can I say , I make people excitable;)

Ouuhh I don't about that...I mean your hair is your defining physical characteristic.
WHo are you now?

it looks looks way better

I am whoever you want me to be :cool:

thusspakeblixa

You leave me and my excitable nature alone!

cHaTbOx

thusspakeblixa wrote: »

You leave me and my excitable nature alone!

Me or her?

wicklowgal

CianRyan wrote: »

Thank god, i thought id be the only person here under 21!

No way,I know lots of people who are under 21 and don't drink.Absolutely nothing to hide,if anything people should admire your stamina!People compliment me all the time for not drinking.

Ostrom

I always had to force myself to have a drink.

I did all of the usual underage drinking, and never enjoyed it. I went though college without drinking much either, and again, it was something I did out of 'necessity' rather than enjoyment. I was about 21, and just starting in a new college when I stopped. I dont know if I was waiting for myself to acquire the taste or numb up to it...whatever.

It was at that time I had decided that I hated pubs and anything to do with drinking. I had worked in one since I was 15, and my college job was in a hotel, until I was 22. I saw the usual in-pub fighting, scumbag riots, drunk driving accidents, beer accidents (man falling down concrete steps, woman nearly killing herself wandering into traffic, attemted suicide, near fatal fist fight), a man vomiting on his children from cans he was drinking on a train at 3pm on a Sunday, a man beaten in front of his wife and children for standing up to a bunch of drunk scumbags on the Waterford-Dublin train.

I also came to hate the idea that it never occured to anyone that they didnt have to do it. I dont think less of anyone for moderate drinking, but I really hate the Irish attitude.

So, hello!

Linguo

Drinking helped me find so called mates more funny etc but it's strange once you stopped drinking you realise all you had in common with a lot of people was that you liked to drink and without that there, you're not actually mates!

Don't miss booze at all though, I have more fun without it!

tolosenc

I'm 19, a 2nd year in College, quit booze as a New Year's Resolution. Saw a video a mate took on her camera, where I'm in the background being a total dickhead. I said something along the lines "I didn't think I was THAT drunk that night" to which the response was "You weren't, you're often like that". That made me decide to go sober.

I was out at a gig last night. Major things I noticed that were different: I had money in my pocket at the end of the night; I didn't have to queue for 25 mins for a drink, just grab a water and go; people are really disgusting when they're drinking, I never noticed the numbers falling over and puking before; and people are very dull and boring, and just not fun, when they drink...
Thought the gig would be very difficult to get through without a pint, but having experienced a night out sober, I'm more convinced than ever that I don't want to drink.

random chatbox

random chatbox wrote: »

Me or her?

You obviously I'm entirely non-threathening.

SpitfireIV

efla wrote: »

I saw the usual in-pub fighting, scumbag riots, drunk driving accidents, beer accidents (man falling down concrete steps, woman nearly killing herself wandering into traffic, attemted suicide, near fatal fist fight), a man vomiting on his children from cans he was drinking on a train at 3pm on a Sunday, a man beaten in front of his wife and children for standing up to a bunch of drunk scumbags on the Waterford-Dublin train.


So, hello!

Hello!

Bloody hell! :eek:. Yeah, I can see why the drink culture would have a negative affect on you alright, some of that stuff is shocking!

Ostrom

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Hello!

Bloody hell! :eek:. Yeah, I can see why the drink culture would have a negative affect on you alright, some of that stuff is shocking!

The train thing always gets to me. I got the train as a student for four years, and Sundays were by far the worst. It didnt matter how well you planned your seating, at least once a month I would end up close enough to the weekends' latest post hen/stag party to hear them arguing with the staff over forfeiting their cans.

It usually took about five minutes for them to get racial.

I could never understand why, in nearly every situation like it, they would argue to punches with majority support.

SpitfireIV

efla wrote: »

The train thing always gets to me. I got the train as a student for four years, and Sundays were by far the worst. It didnt matter how well you planned your seating, at least once a month I would end up close enough to the weekends' latest post hen/stag party to hear them arguing with the staff over forfeiting their cans.

It usually took about five minutes for them to get racial.

I could never understand why, in nearly every situation like it, they would argue to punches with majority support.

God only knows what goes on in the minds of such people, they dont seem to have any self respect, or more importantly, respect for others. Perhaps they believe that by mouthing off and going to blows over minor issues that it makes them the bigger person, there has to be something lacking somewhere thats for sure! :rolleyes:

Ostrom

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

God only knows what goes on in the minds of such people, they dont seem to have any self respect, or more importantly, respect for others. Perhaps they believe that by mouthing off and going to blows over minor issues that it makes them the bigger person, there has to be something lacking somewhere thats for sure! :rolleyes:

I can see the enjoyment, and I try not to judge people on it - but through work and travel, it just seems to add up to a majority negative.

I will happily sit in a pub with my friends if it is the only social space we can reach concensus on, and thankfully, I cant see any of them going to such lengths to partake and defend for the sake of it.

Having said that, I cant think of anything else that has caused as much discuption in as many situations.

cantdecide

I already have a few posts up but I'm cantdecide and I'm a non-drinker.

Never too bothered about it and I think I'm slightly allergic to it which sealed the deal. It's not the honourable Irish thing to do but I'm a rebel. I do believe that life is wonderful anyway without enhancements and that it's a big distraction to too many people. It's nice to get in your own car and bugger off home after a night out at your own pace:cool:

PS, why is this a "group"

SpitfireIV

efla wrote: »

I can see the enjoyment, and I try not to judge people on it - but through work and travel, it just seems to add up to a majority negative.

I will happily sit in a pub with my friends if it is the only social space we can reach concensus on, and thankfully, I cant see any of them going to such lengths to partake and defend for the sake of it.

Having said that, I cant think of anything else that has caused as much discuption in as many situations.

Just to be clear, my previous comment was directed at those individuals on the train whom you mentioned earlier or those whom are out to cause trouble and act the maggot with a few drinks in them, not drinkers in general :P. Tis like everything else I guess, you'll always have the those who can take something in moderation and enjoy it sensibly, or those whom abuse it.

cantdecide wrote:

PS, why is this a "group"

What do you mean?

Ostrom

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Just to be clear, my previous comment was directed at those individuals on the train whom you mentioned earlier or those whom are out to cause trouble and act the maggot with a few drinks in them, not drinkers in general :P. Tis like everything else I guess, you'll always have the those who can take something in moderation and enjoy it sensibly, or those whom abuse it.

Exactly, same for myself, this is just my experience

cantdecide

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

What do you mean?

This is the Non Drinkers Group. Kinda like a support group for non-drinkers:rolleyes: Am I the only one who thinks it comes off as a little patronising:D