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Weekends with friends without alcohol

M

Munkkipulla

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 1, 2012
Messages
4
Hello,

I live in north europe(scandinavia) and out here it is a bit of a habit to drink alcohol most of the weekends. I've been drinking much when I was teenager, Im 21 now and I've lost all the interest in alcohol. I was 5 when I got diagnosed for ADHD, I got confirmation regarding adult age ADHD 2 years ago as well. I have been diagnosed for social anxiety which Im taking Cipralex 10mg every morning. I really find that weed and alcohol make my cognitive skills to decrease noticable amount, thats why I dont do them right now at all. I find martial arts to be the thing to be around with, I do BJJ and Hapkido (western style, more realistic) and once in a week I attend to gym as well. I train 5-6 times a week and it is the best thing for me to do.

I find that because I dont drink alcohol the less I see my friends, well of course I could go to bars sober but they would ask me why I dont drink etc. I really dont find anything cool to invite my friends to during winter season, well bowling is cool but I do that every once in a while. I have invited my friends to come to the BJJ dojo with me but they refused, its either they dont have time or they are not interested. I have that kind of picture of people out here that they dont come anywhere during the weekends unless it would involve alcohol. But what do you guys do with your friends during weekends, what are those kind of things that you could do with your friends without alcohol (both summer and winter season if you're living in north)???
 
Instead of drinking alcohol sometimes me and my friends will sit and drink pot after pot of tea. It's fun to sit and chat and you get a mild euphoric buzz from the tea, but its healthy for you! You could also have friends over to cook dinner with you and have a dinner and movie party. Why cant you go out somewhere with your friends and dance but not drink alcohol? Lots of people do that.
 
We do whatever we were planning on doing. They drink if they want to, I don't. Nobody says nothing except 'are you sure you don't want any ...insert some alcohol....' (that's before I tell them to count me out as far as drinking is concerned). I do the same if a friend decides not to drink.
 
Just go with them anyways and don't drink. You can remind them of ALL the stupid shit they did/said. Or get a different group of friends. I'm not saying get rid of your current friends altogether-get some "sober" friends to hang with when your current friends are out getting drunk.
 
For me I don't have a choice but to stay away from alcohol since I am in the recovery period. I just went with a couple of my friends to hiking yesterday and we still had lots of fun. I am trying to be a good influence on them by inviting them to outdoor activities and it is working so far!
 
Outdoor activities! Hiking. BBQ. Hookah? Gym? Whatever you do, don't go to bars.. lol... or if you want you can be there DD!
 
I find that the wilderness is the best distraction from the desire to do drugs, mostly because you require constant alertness in order to be safe during a hike. Most people have heightened senses when they're in the wild, and the idea of being really altered would be unnerving and cause panic. Plus, nature is just so nice to be in. It enduces peace and calm. People often do drugs out of boredom or stress, and nature solves the problem of both. My favourite place to walk in is the woods, especially in the spring and summer when everything is so alive. Our minds and bodies are meant to interface readily with that environment. The sights, smells and sounds all resonate with us naturally, and put us at ease.

Unfortunately though, in the past I've had to cut ties with friends unwilling to break with substance abuse. We had a long stint together as co-dependent abusers of drugs, and then once my heavier use started to wane and downgrade to occasional use, it became a lot harder to do sober activities with them. Different phases of development I guess. If the company you keep rejects all non-drug activities even though you need/want that sober activity to happen, then you might want to re-evaluate who you call a friend. Just my opinion.
 
Mountain biking, motocross, downhill skiing, snowboarding and go-karting all seem to be things that I find extremely enjoyable and usually enjoy more then drinking or more then the use of almost any substance, only problem is they cost quite a bit.
 
If you aren't struggling with temptation, or highly annoyed by your drunk friends, there's nothing uncool about having a soda-water at the bar with friends.

You may also find that you are simply growing up, and while they are still your bros, you've moved on from drinking.
 
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