After The First Drink, What Comes Next?
It is not even 6 AM and as I scroll through social media on this Christmas morning I already see a post showing a tray full of Mimosas.
I know that for many, drinking on holidays is just a given. But if you are someone who is questioning their relationship with alcohol, I ask you this... after that first mimosa, or after that sophisticated glass of wine that makes you feel tall and fancy, what comes next?
Do you sit in satisfaction, grateful for another year? Or did a fuse set off where you can only wonder about where you’ll get your next drink?
A mental space where you can’t even sit in appreciation or gratitude, because you have flipped the switch and now your body demands more.
And if you do believe that the second scenario is where you’ll go, I only suggest you ask yourself if it’s worth it.
Is it worth the next several hours trying to chase the buzz?
Is it worth the questionable things you might say or do as your body shifts into autopilot while your family and children watch in despair?
This is for you to decide.
I am just here to remind you to consider how the day will play out after the first drink.
I think it’s easy to get lost in the romance of the first drink.
But unless you are someone who can stop there, the fantasy of satisfaction dies fast. And what you are left with is a slow descent into the dark.
It’s a darkness I don’t ever want to feel again. And it’s a darkness, as the daughter of an alcoholic, I don’t ever want my children to witness firsthand.
So I will stay sober this Christmas. Because I know where that first drink leads. And I know that for me, it never stopped at one.