In the past, whenever I went to Eastern Europe, I would drink more alcohol because I thought it was something that I was supposed to do: Everyone in my social circle in Eastern Europe drinks alcohol. But after visiting Eastern Europe again recently, I actually stopped drinking.
- I wasn’t chemically dependent on alcohol, but I was socially dependent on it.
Previously, I was able to be more relaxed in social environments after drinking a glass of wine (or maybe two). Then I could have more fun conversations with people.
Suddenly, I realized that my approach was pretty bad because without alcohol, I was unable to be a good conversationalist. Also, after drinking alcohol, I couldn’t remember exactly how each interaction went, so I couldn’t evaluate what I did or said in those social situations. No evaluation means no learning.
Therefore, I decided not to drink alcohol. So, when I visited Eastern Europe again earlier this year, I didn’t drink alcohol at all. I told all my Eastern European friends that I’ve stopped drinking entirely, and all of them respect my decision, so I’m eternally grateful!
Now I’m training myself to be socially capable without alcohol. As a result, now I pay more attention to how I initiate conversations with other people in a social environment. I also pay more attention to how I add more value to conversations in general.
- Being sober is good for personal development.
Because now I’m sober every time I attend a social event, I can evaluate what I did right and what I did wrong during my communication with others, which is a great way to improve and optimize my social skills and conversation skills.
If you have peer pressure and everyone at the party wants you to drink alcohol, don’t worry – there is a solution: You simply need to give them a reason why you don’t drink and say it with conviction. For example, you can say, “I’m not drinking because I’m on a diet right now.”
Research shows that as long as you provide a reason for your decision, people are more likely to let you do whatever you want in that situation because people crave reasons psychologically, although your reasons may or may not be logical or convincing.
By the way, if they keep prodding for several times and still want you to drink, you can say something along the lines of “I used to drink alcohol as a crutch for social interactions, but after I stopped drinking entirely, I started to make much better decisions because now I am able to meet the people that I would like to meet and have more interesting conversations with people around me. The quality of interpersonal relationships in my life is much higher now.”
Now your friends will want to live up to your standards and will respect you more.
“Visiting Eastern Europe without drinking alcohol has helped me to meet a lot of interesting people and build many amazing friendships.”
