Comments on: A teetotaler drinks a pint of Guinness and changes her mind (Hint: it’s Pace)

By: Leah

Leah — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:03:22 +0000

You are right on with asking “Why” ! That is the best way to get down into your stories to see if they are true for you or not.
my brother and I had an interesting awareness around drinking. We were both big drinkers until about 10 years ago. I never thought about my drinking behavior…sure…i suffer thru the occasional hangover and being fried at work because i had been out partying the night before…but I thought that it was normal to do that. The people I hung out with did…I worked in restaurants and clubs for a long time. When i started down the path to self-awareness and started hanging out with new people, I began to notice that there were some people who did not drink at all…..or very little. Who were these people??? Around this time my brother and i had a conversation about this and he was noticing the same thing. You see we grew up in a house hold where my parents and all their friends drank a lot. My memories of childhood were Back yard BBQ’s with picnic tables full of 1/2 gallon jugs of vodka…and variety or other kinds of alcohol.

We just thought that was how you drank…that that was what you did.

It was weird…we had learned that behavior from our parents.

So once the light of awareness was shining on me, i stopped drinking so much. Now I barely drink at all…..mostly because I like to be clear headed and focused.

I will say I like a bit of good tequila every now and then…….but I get drunk fast.

Rock on Pace!
Leah
.-= Leah´s last blog ..Self doubt and being different =-.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:25:22 +0000

"Why am I doing this?" and "What's the worst thing that could happen?" are two handy questions to keep in your back pocket at all times. .-= Sheila´s last blog ..Word Art: Star Light Star Bright =-.

By: Inge

Inge — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:16:47 +0000

I know this is not the point of your article, but I don’t drink alcohol either and everyone always asks why not. The answer: I don’t like the taste. Nothing medical or moral and I don’t judge anyone for drinking, there’s just no no match between alcohol and my taste buds. Next question: that is impossible, have you tried this, or this, or that? Not liking alcohol is apparently not acceptable / too odd a concept to grasp. So these days I just say what I would like to drink without adding that I don’t drink alcohol. Who needs the extra information anyway?

Good for you, though, to question your own motivations for not drinking. Sometimes, the reasons for our behaviour no longer apply and many people never know because they don’t keep questioning themselves.

By: Hayden Tompkins

Hayden Tompkins — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:29:08 +0000

I really feel you on this. For a long, long time my brother and I both had a strong aversion to alcohol. Watching what it did to our father and then how he acted with us…as far as we were concerned, alcohol was HAZARDOUS.

But coming to the point of being o-k with it could only come when we realized that we were not our dad and that we would be fine if we’re careful.

To this day, Sean is all about the Guinness while I prefer an Amaretto Sour.

Good for you!!

By: Pace

Pace — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:22:36 +0000

@Charles: A completely unspiritual person? I noted that during the conversation, you described yourself as “an almost entirely unspiritual person”, and I’m quite curious as to the teeny remaining bit, if any. As an aside, I don’t think it’s that unusual to be completely unspiritual — I think most atheists would describe themselves as such, and there are plenty of atheists around. (:

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:33:46 +0000

One thing that struck me about the statement from your inner heart is that alcohol is still tied to spirituality, just that now instead of being an impediment it’s an acceptable crutch. For me personally, drinking alcohol has no special spiritual significance at all, except in the way that any experience in this world does. For me drinking is just a fun thing to do with other people. Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, I see myself as a completely unspiritual person, so my perspective my be unusual.

Your obedient servant,

A Dog

By: Catherine Caine

Catherine Caine — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:23:59 +0000

That’s very powerful. I find it interesting when I go and visit my family, that I can notice where I got some of my opinions and preferences from: I’ve “inherited” them from my family.

Some of them I have realised I don’t want (like my mum’s complete dislike of people eating with their mouth open), and I have been trying (in that case unsuccessfully, so far) to readjust my opinions to something that makes sense to me.

By: Pace

Pace — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:12:14 +0000

@Sea: My family has some alcoholism in it too, but I seem to have luckily avoided that gene. Or else the most-alcohol-tastes-horrid gene shows up to save the day. (:

By: Andy Hayes

Andy Hayes — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:12:04 +0000

What a lovely story. I’m so glad you asked why, and I’m glad you got an answer. :-) Bottoms up!

By: Sea

Sea — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:05:14 +0000

That’s interesting, because I don’t drink either and when I tried a sip of Guinness in the spirit of being in an Irish pub, I thought it tasted like cough syrup and I wouldn’t have any more! I don’t drink because I think alcohol smells bad and tastes worse. Also my family is full of alcoholics, so I never see anything good come of drinking. But it’s good to question one’s own assumptions. :)