• Add to Technorati Favorites

  •  Subscribe to Midlife Beginnings in your feed reader

  • Debt and Weight

    Debt
    Start (11/1/07): $51,100
    Current Debt: $41,341
    Debt Paid So Far: $9,759

    Weight
    Start 12/29/07: 245 lbs
    Current Weight: 227 lbs
    Target Weight: 185 lbs
    Pounds Lost: 18 lbs

  • Recent Posts

  • Categories

  • Pages

  • Archives

  • Spam Blocked

    • « 8 Weeks to Optimum Health | Main | Adding a Paypal Donation Button to Your Blog »

    Why Do I Drink?

    By Jay | November 25, 2007

    In 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Dr. Andrew Weil makes the case that we continue unhealthy behavior and addictions because there is some sort of payoff.

    This comment hit home with me. I usually quit drinking for 3-4 months of the year, and then drink almost daily for the rest of the year. I love wine, and nothing caps off the day better for me than a good glass (well actually it’s usually 2 or 3 glasses) of wine. But for a variety of reasons, I like to stop for a few weeks each year. Wine is expensive. Wine gives me heartburn — not at first, but if I drink it frequently I start noticing heartburn after a few months. Drinking affects my sleeping patterns. Drinking daily takes up a lot of time — two or three hours each day. And I do love the way I feel when I don’t drink. I feel more tranquil somehow. There’s nothing to take the edge off life, but because I have more time to contemplate & deal with that edge, it seems to be more manageable.

    So why do I drink? What is the payoff? I’ve recently gone back to my drinking habit, so this is a relevant question.

    Well…first, I love the taste. There’s nothing that quite compares to the flinty taste of a perfectly balanced Chardonnay, or a nice jammy Australian Shiraz. Then there’s the sociability of drinking — I tend to be more of a loner when I don’t drink. Then there’s the relaxation. There’s nothing that leaves me feeling quite so relaxed & carefree as a couple of glasses of wine. That is something that I really miss when I don’t drink. I trade a certain balance that I feel when I don’t drink for a profound relaxation that I never feel when I don’t drink. I drink to achieve a revery that is almost mystical.

    I remember reading something by Dr. M. Scott Peck, I think in The Road Less Traveled (I wish I had the quote handy), where he said that he drank to achieve a certain communion with God, that he felt was almost like slipping back into the womb, or almost like what he thought death would feel like — a profound, blissful state of well-being. I think Dr. Peck would understand what I mean by a “revery which is almost mystical.” So would the Belgian monks who make that fabulous Belgian beer!

    Problem is, whatever I gain from drinking, I lose more. My weight has gone right back up in the past couple weeks that I’ve been drinking. I don’t like spending $20 every couple days on wine. I miss the time that was available to me when I didn’t drink. I miss reading before bed and then being able to remember what I had read the next morning. I miss dreaming at night (alcohol has always affected my sleeping patterns). I miss a certain clear-headedness that I have when I don’t drink.

    So these are the pros and cons. As I delve into Dr. Weil’s program (I’m starting Week 1 today), I will meditate on this. I have a feeling I will stop drinking again soon. It’s nice and I will miss it, but it doesn’t really fit in with what I am trying to do in life right now.

    Popularity: 23% [?]

    Share This

    Stumble it!

    Topics: Alcohol |

    Comments