Coping with the Holidays

(2 minute read)

With the holidays coming up, I promised myself I would wait a month to do another one of these... I made it one day, whatever shut up listen. 

"Nathan,

What's your opinion on having alcohol at gatherings? We're having everyone over for Thanksgiving and my husband's brother is an alcoholic. His parents and my sister all drink wine but don't have a problem. I thought I would get your opinion." 

WHAT AN EXCELLENT QUESTION!!! ...this may hurt a smidge. 

Let's say your husband's boss was coming over for dinner, and he had a known allergy to shellfish, what would you serve? Probably not lobster. Even though everyone else LOVES lobster, you're not even going to chance surf 'N turfing it because 

1) Cross contamination and 

2) ...let's face it, you're not Rachel Ray😐 

Un-apologetically pull it from the menu.

I know what you're going to say, "everyone would FREAK if there was no alcohol! It's Thanksgiving!"

Really? Is it THAT important? Why? 

Real talk= I know normies rarely drink for taste... I know this because I'll eat with them, and the person that only took three sips of their Pepsi at lunch, orders a second or even third glass of Pinot before dessert at dinner. 🤷🏻‍♂️"why you suddenly so thirsty bro!?". They subconsciously OR consciously do it for the effect, for the escape and relief it provides. ESPECIALLY during the holidays.

So MY question to YOU is... Why do you need to medicate? Are you having Thanksgiving with your family or a colonoscopy?

As a professional alcoholic I can tell you with 100% assuredness that the happiness you get from alcohol is synthetic and lacks authenticity. When you are with your family in fellowship you have a chance to bank on some EPIC joy. Every bit of alcohol you drink, whether you're an alcoholic or not, robs you of the authentic stuff and replaces it with the synthetic, "made in China" happiness. Yuk!

Normies: Please don't make having it or not having it a big deal. If you ask any addict "do you mind if I drink?" Of course we will say "No! Please do". ...you literally just peer pressured someone to say yes, who has a problem with succumbing to peer pressure 😐 Hence ALCOHOLIC duh🙄. So I'm going to say this for alcoholics everywhere. Whether I mind or not is irrelevant, if you have to ask, you already should know the answer. So just don't do it and don't ask.

Addicts: Be assertive with your family and friends. One of the many mistakes I made when I got out of rehab the first time was told my wife "of course I don't mind if you still drink!" So the wine stayed in the fridge right next to my reservations. Bad move on my part.

Authored November 23rd 2019