I was kind of in shock that he had said it.
“I’m going to force you to have a beer at the holiday party, mate”.
Being a teetotaler in the workplace is hard. Being a teetotaler in the workplace around Christmas? Fuck that’s the hardest time of all. But seriously?
Why on earth would someone say that they were going to force me to have a beer at the holiday party?
It’s around this time of year that people often overindulge on things like alcohol, food or extra-marital indiscretions and I think that most likely the problem comes from the other people. Other people will feel guilty, shameful and perhaps even a bit jealous of people who don’t overindulge during the holiday time.
This isn’t to say that I’m perfect - far from it! In fact, I was most likely the one who would ring lead these kinds of things back when I used to drink. I remember a specific time where I was at a holiday party and got so bad that I had to call my wife to pick me up. She loaded the kids into the car at 2 am to pick me up. Not great.
It took me a long time to get to where I am today but it fundamentally came down to a few key points that anyone can master:
- Know your triggers
- Build the right support systems
- Develop new routines
- Focus on health
There isn’t a day that goes by where something happens or reminds me of the old way of drinking and a tiny voice in the back of my mind says I should go for it. Society won’t help you in this front - especially at this time of year.
Which brings me back to the other day and the guy who told me he was going to force me to drink a beer. I gently reminded him in a non confrontational manner that I didn’t drink and I didn’t appreciate his joke. It was tough but in the end made me feel 100% better. This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you the impact it had on him. But you know what?
I don’t give a fuck what he thinks. I’m sober for me and my family.
Sobriety is hard and we're committed to bringing you real-life stories from sobriety. We're starting a new series called WTF Sobriety moments to highlight just how many fucked up moments there are in your quest for sobriety. Feel free to share with us and the community in the comments below.
If you’re struggling with alcohol addiction issues this holiday or at any other time please please reach out to us. We’ll set you up with a free stop drinking course and will help you any way that we can.
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This post has received a 0.26 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.
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It's funny isn't it? Society as a whole has forgotten that not only is alcohol a drug it's arguably one of the more dangerous ones. Imagine mentioning to a coworker that you were going to force them to try xanax. I'm sure that would go swell. ;)
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