Alcoholism is an affliction that affects millions of people around the world. And that is just the people who become ill or incapacitated to such an extent that medical intervention is required to save their lives. In other words, those who have become so sick due to alcohol that they have been told that they need to cut back on drinking or stop drinking completely.
Is it time to cut back on drinking?
However, what about those who are also affected by alcohol on a daily basis, such as those affected by violence, financial difficulty or failing health, which is also caused by alcohol. What about those who are already addicted but haven’t looked at reality? What about those highly functional types, who seem to manage drinking alcohol to excess, without caring for the impact that alcohol is having on their health, wealth and happiness?
Here’s the question – does this sound like you?
People who drink more than the recommended level of 2 alcoholic drinks per day are placing themselves at long term risk to their health. Worse than that, they may be entering into the grey area, classified as highly functional alcoholic. Even if you try hard to stay within the recommended weekly alcohol, there is no guarantee that your long term health is not being affected. Or that you can stay within the limits.
That is the problem with alcohol, just because you may stick within the so called safe guidelines, there is no guarantee that you are safe from the long term addictive effects of alcohol, or that you are safe from other harmful effects in the future.
What is your relationship with alcohol?
The other problem with alcohol is that it gradually becomes a habit. Sometimes we don’t notice to what extent it has crept into our lives. We don’t always realize that it becomes a coping mechanism. Sometimes we simply avoid the reality about our relationship with alcohol.
Are you being honest with yourself?
If you drink more than the recommended guidelines and notice any of the following signs in yourself, you may want to think about cutting back on alcohol.
8 Signs You Need To Cut Back On Drinking:
1. Have you ever thought “Do I drink too much alcohol?”
Even when we try to avoid the reality about our personal relationship with alcohol, this question can sneak into our subconscious thoughts. No matter how fleeting the question was, there is no avoiding the thought!
Alcohol is very good at making excuses to keep on drinking. Even if you regret drinking too much alcohol or suffered a hangover, or if alcohol made you feel bad, we just tend to shrug it off, and fall into the same trap again. This is the problem with alcohol.
At this point there really are only two choices – you can either; recognise the unhelpful pattern caused by alcohol, and choose to do something about it, or you can continue to avoid the reality of the situation. Which choice do you make? Maybe it is time to cut back on drinking?
2. Is drinking is your first impulse after a stressful day?
There is no shame in this one, we all feel stressed after a busy day. But after an extended period of being stressed, do you begin to find that you always feel stressed, and that you always need to drink alcohol? This could be a case of chicken or the egg, because alcohol does not relieve stress, it actually causes stress.
So if you find that you are always stressed, then drinking too much alcohol can actually be one of the triggers for that. Reaching for a glass of alcohol to relieve stress can actually be counter-intuitive. Sooner or later, drinking too much alcohol can become the stress. That’s how it was for me anyway. Do you want to continue living with stress, or do you really want to do something about it?
3. Do you worry about losing weight?
Are you actively trying to lose weight, but fighting a losing battle? Are you drinking alcohol at the same time? Do you know about the excess calories contained in the average glass of alcohol? The calories in alcohol are additional to the food we eat. When poured in on top of everything else that we consume, alcohol tends to contribute to excess calories and weight gain.
Did you know that cutting back on alcohol can save thousands of excess calories every day? That can be a powerful motivator to help lose weight, and it really does work. The problem can be that if you like to reward your efforts at losing weight with a couple of extra glasses of alcohol. Unfortunately, that can undo all the good work, and contribute to putting the weight back on. Maybe it is time to cut back on drinking? You may need to make cutting back on alcohol a priority!
4. Does alcohol interfere with your work?
If you are feeling tired or suffering from a hangover at work, then it is difficult to be fully productive at your job. Does this make you feel stressed? Does this make you worry about you can keep your job? Are you worried about losing your job because of drinking too much?
All of these questions can be very stressful, and when we feel stressed, we tend to drink more alcohol. But if alcohol is the cause of the problem, then it is not really going to fix the problem, is it?
This is definitely a reason to cut back on drinking alcohol. Better to focus on what we need to do to make ourselves more productive and more valuable in the workplace.
5. Do you plan your day around alcohol?
It is common to reach the end of a long hard day, and decide that you deserve to treat yourself to a glass of alcohol. Obviously you deserve it! But what if you left some jobs unfinished, or what if there was some other important tasks that you didn’t get started. Or maybe an even that you didn’t go to because it interfered with your alcohol time?
It is all too easy to justify the need to stop and have a drink. In fact, as soon as the idea of drinking a glass of alcohol enters our thoughts, it can be nearly impossible to resist. But we do need to question whether this thought process is under our own control, or are we under the control of alcohol?
6. Can you stop after just one drink?
If you are like me, then it is no secret that I found it extremely difficult to have just one drink. Inevitably, one drink would follow another and another. That is the problem with alcohol, it reduces our inhibitions, and changes our good intentions, until we have no willpower left.
No matter how resolute we were before drinking, once we have one glass of alcohol, it is almost impossible to stop drinking. But at some point, we have to stop drinking before we end up feeling sick.
This is analogous to our life in general, because at some stage we just might have to cut back on drinking.
7. How do you want your kids to see your relationship with alcohol?
Kids learn most of what they know of the world from their parents, and their family. What example do you set for your children regarding alcohol? Because alcohol is so widespread in our society, it has become an accepted part of everyday life.
Do you drink in front of your kids? Do you drink in front of other kids? What image do you portray of your relationship when drinking alcohol around kids?
8. Do you feel like there must be more to life?
Sure it was fun for a while, and when you were young, you could keep up the pace. Lots of parties and lots of alcohol, but for some of us, it cannot last forever. Some of us try to keep the party going for as long as possible! But one day you might have a sudden thought or two – is there more to life than this? Am I missing something?
If you are dissatisfied with where your life is at right now, or if you want to get more out of life. Maybe it is time to make a change. Maybe it is time to cut back on drinking?
Do you want to change the way you think about drinking?
How you ever wondered why alcohol is so common in our society? Do you agree with alcohol advertising? Do you ever wonder why we allow alcohol into our lives?
Maybe it is time to change the way you think about drinking. Maybe it is time to cut back on drinking. Or Maybe it is time to quit drinking completely.
Maybe you can do it on your own, or maybe you would like to know how we did it. Feel free to read where you can find help to stop drinking.
And have fun with your personal journey!
