Where Do You Draw The Line Between Social Drinking And Abusive Drinking

Where do you draw the line between social drinking and abusive drinking is a good question that we need to address.

There is nothing wrong with having a social drink or two when you are attending a function of any sort, but there are some people such as myself that just don't know the word, "social drinker."

With all the hubs and articles I write about regarding drinking alcohol, please don't think that I am an anti-drinker, or hate those that do drink. That is not the case at all. The problem with me was I loved to drink too much and never knew when enough was enough.

I loved my beer just as much or even more than the next guy, but alcohol and me just didn't hit it off. It made me a person that I was not, so the steps I took were to just stop drinking alcohol and start to change my life around for the better.

Here are some questions you may want answers to by asking yourself these simple questions:

• DO I ABUSE ALCOHOL?
• CAN I JUST HAVE ONE OR TWO SOCIAL DRINKS AND CALL IT QUITS?
• DO I KNOW WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?
• CAN YOU LIMIT HOW MUCH YOU DRINK OR HAVE NO CONTROL AFTER STARTING?
• CAN YOU GO OUT TO EAT, ETC. WITHOUT NEEDING TO HAVE A ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
• CAN YOU HANDLE GOING TO A PARTY WITHOUT ALCOHOL BEING SERVED?

These are the questions I asked myself when I finally made up my mind to stop drinking alcohol and start living a sober life once more.

None of us are stupid people and I am very sure those that do have an alcohol addiction knows this deep down inside, but they, like I, never wanted to admit it, and we all live in this little world we call denial.

I hope and pray always for those that do have a huge addiction to alcohol that they, like I will see the light sooner than later and change their lives around like I did almost four years ago.

When I say that Sobriety Rocks, I truly mean it, and the fact that I wasted all those years drinking and abusing alcohol really upsets me to no end.

Nevertheless, that was the past and it is now a new and clean life for me and my family to enjoy.

If you think or know you have an addiction to alcohol, what I think, and this is only my opinion, that you should really stop and take a hard look at your life and determine what side of the the line you are on.

Take a moment and look at those that love and care for you, and look them deep into their eyes, and just maybe you will see the pain that they are going through right along with you and your addiction.

You have to remember many people are suffering because of your addiction to alcohol. We the alcoholics never think of things such as this simply because we are in our own little world and are mostly living in denial.

When I say Sobriety Rocks, I truly mean it. If I were to know how it felt to be sober and living each day with a clear mind, I might of had second thoughts of ruining my life with drinking alcohol.

The problem was, and is, that once your demons get hold of you, and you don't have the willpower to keep them back, then they can and will start to take over your life one day at a time, and before you know it alcohol will indeed be a huge part of your everyday life.

In order to find that line between social drinking and abusive drinking, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you know when to stop drinking and when enough is enough?
• Is one or two social drinks enough to satisfy your desire for a drink?
• Are you okay to go to a place that doesn't serve alcohol at all?
• Do you feel the need to want more alcohol after those couple social drinks?
• Do you have the willpower to say. "no more alcohol" I have had enough?
• Can you go days or even weeks without having an alcoholic drink?

Drinking to be social is okay in my book. I just wished I could of been a social drinker and not an abusive drinker.

There is nothing at all wrong with having that social drink with a family member or friend. Having that social drink to celebrate a Birthday, Wedding, or just a time to relax at a local pub. All of us need that time to unwind and just relax after a hard days work.

The problem with people like myself is that we tend to not know when to stop that social drink, and we wind up abusing that drink all through the night.

As for myself, I have had weddings to go to, and one of those weddings were my own Daughters Wedding. Sure I paid for all the alcohol so that the guest would have a wonderful time. The thing with that was most of the people only had that social drink or two and of course the toast to the Bride and Groom.

Others that did have a problem with their alcohol intake were those that were addicted to alcohol for sometime and they were the ones that made complete fools out of themselves.

I sat there at the wedding and watched those that were over drinking and making fools of themselves and believe me, it brought back some bad memories of my past drinking days which I am not very proud of.

If you feel that you are only a social drinker and know for a fact you don't have an addiction to alcohol, then you should be very proud of yourself. On the other hand if you are one of those people that feel that social drinking is not for you because you never can get enough of the alcohol with only that one or two social drinks, then you may want to think about getting your drinking under control, or try to at least cut down on your alcohol intake.

For myself, cutting down or only having that social drink or two was never enough and I was never satisfied until I got that buzz I was so used to having. So, in that case I needed to stop drinking alcohol altogether and have been sober since October, 2009.