Do you feel judged when you choose non alcoholic beverages while socializing?
It must be all those questions and comments. Oh, you don't drink? Why do you not drink? So you are not drinking! Oh tell us what happened, did you do something crazy? Are we not good enough to drink with you? Oh just have one beer, it won't hurt!
Do you suddenly feel alienated from your social group because of your drinking choice? All these questions make you feel like something is wrong with you and you are the only person on this planet who chooses not to drink.
Does our Aussie culture put so much emphasis on drinking and the only way to have fun is to drink? Well, it seems like our society does tend to put a lot of unnecessary social pressure on non-drinkers and view people differently if they choose not to drink alcoholic beverages as if something is wrong with them. It can be annoying saying the same thing over and over and explaining yourself and your reasons. You may even feel like you are over-explaining and those eyes just roll over like ....hmm... whatever!
It's a personal choice not to drink and you have made a conscious decision to take an action to better your health. You may be a top athlete and work hard to achieve your goals or you might have religious views about alcohol or culturally you just didn't grow up around alcohol so it is a foreign concept to you. Whatever your reasons, you have made a personal choice and you should be proud of it!
This type of thinking has to change, the booze-free movement is liberating and taking all these stigmas and idealism away from the way someone chooses to drink. It is exciting that our new generation is leading the way and choosing alternative drinking options to alcohol and are breaking away from old thinking. It is liberating and exciting that we have a new generation of non-drinkers who are okay to have fun without alcohol.
We need to strive to become a more non-judgmental society regardless of where we come from and our background and our choices in beverages or lifestyles without unnecessary questions. It's all about choice, a PERSONAL CHOICE, and one that should be respected and accepted.
It's a personal choice to be alcohol-free!
"Socializing alcohol-free is cool".
Written by the N.A.C. Team.
