Except one thing…
Donald lost his brother Fred Jr. when he was 42 due to alcoholism. Mr tough guy Donald was so hurt by it that he decided to quit drinking alcohol forever. Seems kind of hard to believe given his personality.
Yet it’s true.
If you see him at an award show or fancy dinner, he’ll always be drinking a Diet Coke (unsure if he knows it’s not healthy either haha).
Goes to show even the people you dislike have something to admire.
Now, when I hear people talking about why they have to drink to be social or advance their career, I call BS. Donald ruled the largest economy on Earth and had to socialize. He didn’t need booze. You don’t either.
You’ve been lied to.
A short story about how pathetic alcohol is
I moved house recently.
Got my own patch of grass finally (it’s fake grass). The journey has been fun. One of the first things that happened is I got to meet my neighbors.
One afternoon I went to a house auction a street away. All the neighbors from that street were there. They were super nice.
“Mate, you should come over and hang out.”
It felt like I’d been invited to Obama’s inauguration dinner at his home. I nearly cried from excitement.
They then told me to bring a 6-pack of beer. I told them I don’t drink. That’s when things went sour. They said I was boring.
“Drown your sorrows with us.”
That’s what they wanted me to do. That’s their idea of fun. I took one of the guys in the neighborly group aside to ask what happens at these get-togethers.
He told me one bloke had converted the side of his garage into an outdoor theatre. There’s a big movie projector that shows the football.
They all gather around and get drunk. They’ll often complain about their wives or the government.
What do I have to gain from this? Nothing.
So now I’m unofficially uninvited because I don’t drink. They went from my new best friends to never wanting to speak to me again. That’s when I learned this important lesson once again…
Stay away from people who need alcohol to have a good time.
Alcohol gives you the emotional maturity of a pubescent teenager
Seriously.
When I used to drink I’d do stupid stuff. One night outside of a nightclub I got so drunk I started jumping in front of moving cars going about 25 mph.
Does that sound like something a highly intelligent person would do? No. A teenager would do it though. Another night I got so drunk that when I got home I passed out on my bed.
In the middle of the night I pissed myself and the bed. The next morning the alcohol did so much damage I ran to the toilet for a poop and some of it landed in my underpants.
This same thing happens to my daughter. Except she’s 7 months old.
Alcohol makes us immature. It gives us the emotional intelligence of a 13 year old and makes us say stuff we’ll regret.
Many times while working in banking I went out drinking. I said rude things to female colleagues and lost all my filters.
One of them complained and I nearly lost my job. It sounded innocent after 10 beers, but the truth was what I said was borderline s*xual harassment.
Another night I got blind drunk. I walked out of the pub and over to my BMW. I was mumbling some crap.
“Yo Timbo, don’t drink and drive.”
I didn’t listen.
I drove up the main street that had a speed limit of 20 mph and got the car up to over 120. Friends in the back. Whole life ahead of me.
It was pouring with rain that night. My car nearly spun off the road. We could have all been killed. What fun.
It’s funny how all my lowest moments happen around alcohol.
Out of control, out of your mind — that’s what alcohol can do for you.
Alcohol is a cope
It’s an excuse.
It’s the worst strategy for dealing with problems. Drowning your sorrows doesn’t work. And the one I hate the most is this…
Alcohol helps you socialize.
No, it doesn’t. It makes you someone you’re not. It makes you act stupid and say things without thinking.
If you need alcohol, you need therapy.
Soz. It’s the truth. I did. And I finally got help. That’s when I didn’t need to drink anymore.
Drinking alcohol is a high-interest loan on tomorrow’s happiness — Sean Kernan
Alcohol makes you age terribly (here’s proof)
The photo below shows fighter Connor McGregor only 2 years apart.
Image credit-Lawrence King via this tweet
On the left he looks like a youthful young man. On the right he looks like an old man at the end of the road and ready for the cemetery.
That’s what alcohol can do for you.
One of the biggest motivations for quitting alcohol is energy. Alcohol steals my energy and gives it to some cheap devil in a bottle shop.
Once I quit drinking I suddenly had more energy. No more hangovers and feeling like crap for days after.
Choose energy enhancers, not energy thieves.
Drinking alcohol isn’t self-care
This movement is out of control.
Everything has become self-care including alcohol. Drink to relax. Drink to take a load off and reward yourself for a hard week’s work.
How about no!
As writer Tori Dunlop says, real self-care is doing hard stuff. That’s what improves your life.
Stuff like exercising, learning about money, starting a business, writing about what you’re learning, making new connections.
Alcohol doesn’t propel you forward, it holds you back.
Reality is freaking beautiful. Why numb it?
Alcohol numbs the present.
It blocks the future and helps you forget the past. You can see why people love to use this addictive drug. No need to feel.
It makes no sense though. Reality is beautiful. Being alive is a privilege. Nature is spectacular. There are people doing inspiring things like getting us to Mars. I can’t think of a worse time in history to numb reality.
The bottom line
If the people around you need alcohol to have a good time, it’s time to find new people. And if drinking alcohol has become a habit, it’s time to detox.
Take part in the Dry July movement. Give it up for 30 days.
Watch it change your life.
