At the height of my drinking, in terms of when it wasn’t causing me too many problems, I enjoyed going clubbing during the week.
I wasn’t really a fan of going out at the weekend because it cost so much more. I wanted to be able to spend my money on booze not the price of entry to an overpriced nightclub.
On a quick side note, I remember going crazy at a bouncer once after he refused me entry to a club because I wasn’t wearing dress shoes. It was a crappy place in the middle of nowhere on a Thursday night!
Anyway, I digress.
I used to hate spending money on anything other than alcohol when I was on a night out so midweek clubbing was always my favourite. Places were usually free or cheap to get into and there were normally drink deals on so I could get smashed.
And if the drinks weren’t cheap and there were no drink deals on then I would normally sneak a hip flask into the club with me!
I would let nothing get in the way of my drinking. Yes, I dabbled with drugs in the past but booze was always my favourite. I chose alcohol over the other substances because it was cheap, readily available and I liked the way it made me feel – until I didn’t!
“First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
Towards the end of my drinking days, alcohol wasn’t giving me the same feelings it did when I had my first drink in my early teens. And my message to people is that alcohol’s power is fleeting.
Alcohol will only serve the purpose of fun and freedom for so long before you start desperately trying to chase these unattainable feelings again with more frequency and quantity.
Once you realise that alcohol is a substance of dwindling returns, you have the chance to free yourself from it. I thought that being cheap and going out midweek was saving me money so I could drink more but, although that was the case, it was costing me more in the long – not just financially. I paid the price physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Don’t suffer the same fate.
The price of alcohol may be cheap but the cost you can pay is high.
Alcohol Free Fathers
AFFATHERS 