During teenage and adult life, one is tempted to follow peer pressure and indulge in actions that have negative consequences. Drinking on weekends is one vice that characterizes college and early adult lives. While some people argue that drinking is a deliberate choice made by the person doing it, studies have proven that most people engage in drinking due to social and cultural inclinations. This means that one can drink even when they are fully aware of the negative consequences. Most people try to avoid weekend drinking to no avail due to their social circles. This article offers a guide on how to stay sober on weekends.
Social drinking is an influence of our social lives. In other words, a sober weekend starts by identifying triggers that make us drink. This could be the friends we keep, parties we attend, or even our tendencies such as keeping wine and alcohol in the house. To identify the triggers of drinking sprees, we need to analyze our past experiences on drinking weekends and see how they commenced. Interestingly, in most cases, we can only control whether to start drinking or not, but not what happens our first sip. Understanding the trend helps an individual to avoid drinking.
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After eliminating these triggers, it is important to fill the schedule with other important activities to avoid boredom, which might lead to drinking. Activities for a weekend might include going for a movie with a friend, visiting a family, a random road trip, or even studying. When planning these activities, it is vital to ensure that they do not include people or settings that trigger alcohol craving. For instance, when trying to quit drinking, it is not advisable to go and play pool in a bar selling alcoholic drinks. The setting does not support the objective of choosing these activities.
After choosing and engaging with these activities, make sure to create reliable and interesting friendships in the process. Mostly, social interactions bring together people with a common objective. This is why people are likely to become alcoholics if their peers drink. Initiating new friendships with the people you meet as you evade drinking leads to a positive change as a similar setting is likely to occur following weekend without prior planning. For instance, creating memorable moments in a movie theatre might influence a person to go back to the movies the following weekend. This time, however, the person does so out of rational decision to enjoy the weekend rather than a plan to avoid alcohol. It is also advisable to have a specific weekend plan that meets only the intended activities without surplus. Budget constraints can keep someone from indulging in impromptu drinking.
The most vital thing to note is that social drinking is a social problem and can be controlled by changing our social environments. People learn to drink as a socialization process. However, in the end, it becomes addictive and reduces the quality of life. Training yourself to avoid drinking on weekends has social and financial advantages as it saves resources to engage in other positive activities. One can avoid drinking by changing environments, planning alternative activities, seeking social support through new friendships, and keeping a fixed budget for identified activities. One should strive to initiate and retain new social patterns that do not trigger the urge to drink.
