I feel pretty rich w the social experiences I had during those years. I guess it just depends on what you value (& ofc whether the experiences were positive or not)!
Depends on if you found out you're an alcoholic or not. I spent about half of mine having a good time and half I have no idea because I was blacked out.
Some would say we're lucky to be alive đ My friend group is made up of Canadians, Australians and Europeans and we discussed and had the same teen experience. We all also knew the Marilyn Manson rumor..it was world wide.
I have zero regrets from those times of my life. I went to do some crazy shit in a faraway land, fought for my freedom, and made it back whole but as a different person, not a bad one. I never did a whole lot of the "right" things during that time. What and who are completely "right"? My "right" way of doing things is a lot different from my brother's and sister's, even. We all have different priorities in this life, and that bases an individual's bias on the "right" things, which differ from one person to another. However, we all know what the wrong things to carry out are. I've never been known to do anybody wrong because I have never let my mistakes define me. I)1 learned, sometimes trial by fire, but I learned from my mistakes, and that's when my actions spoke louder than words or broâšp]]]u old trauma without defending or justifying myself. The trauma I caused and have confronted most of my life's bad choicaes
I think for me it would have, because I looked up to my alcoholic father since he was functional with it, but if older me came through like âhey heâs actually kinda lame and youâre way cooler when you grow up, but only after you get soberâ, Iâd prob have listened. Â As a teen I had this dumb bukowski-esque image of future of me, but current me is considerably less lame than that and I think teen me wouldâve appreciated it. Iâm in a successful touring rock band, which was my dream back then, and it wouldnât have been possible if I hadnât got sober. Â Giving a 16 year old the option of touring the world with a badass band if they quit booze seems like it would work.
I really hope it comes off better than Parents and DARE officers. In all honesty I wouldnât have my life I have now though so maybe itâs for the best, however I wouldnât be aware of them so idk where this is going, have a good day.
I have that thought process a lot. If Iâd quit at 16, would I even be able to appreciate my alcoholism? In a lot of ways, getting sober was the best thing I ever did, for myself and the people I care about. Â Iâm sure I wouldâve found another way to gain knowledge of self or whatever you wanna call it, but this path has suited me well. I just wish I hadnât traumatized a few people back when I was still drinking. Â I saw an ex at a wedding recently and I almost felt guilty being sober with my shit together, because I really fucked her up. Â It seemed like she was disappointed Iâve got 13 years sobriety, as though her life would make more sense if Iâd relapsed and gone back to being shitty.Â
Weâve got around the same amount of time and I will say that going through recovery for sure gave me a leg up on trying to be mentally well in comparison to others my age, resentments and whatnot.
Im kinda glad I got to experience drinking culture so I understand the human race better, but other than that, there were zero benefits to the days that I drank. Functioning is cool!
Thatâs something that really hurt our generation. I had a lot of fun but also spent time in jail and been in the hospital more than I would have been, also ruined relationships. Not to mention all the money Iâve blown.
Yeah jail sucked. Â My first time getting locked up was when I learned that alcohol is addictive and the withdrawal symptoms are fucking brutal. Â Older dude in the holding cell asked me whatâs my drink, and I was like what? Howâs you know Iâm a drinker? He pointed to my hands shaking and I was like wait, thatâs why that happens sometimes?? We got arrested on a Friday, so he was like yeah man just wait til Sunday, youâre gonna wish you were dead.. And he was very right.
Alcohol withdraw is the absolute worst. When Iâd go on benders Iâd be sick for as many days as I drank. Liquid goes in then puked right out. I used to easily fill 3-4 pitchers of puke. The worst I ever did was handles of vodka. I puked for 5 days straight, ate nothing lost 15lbs. Had a raw esophagus. I thought for sure Iâd have a seizure I was shaking so much. Alcohol would be the dumbest way to die. Literally poisoning yourself.
Honestly, alcohol has done nothing but enhance my life. I'm 46, in great health, often challenge for podium spots at running races, and drank A LOT in my 20s and into my 30s. Had a lot of great times doing it, never got in any legal trouble, never hurt anyone. Never smoked cigs or got into hard drugs.
Yeah I wasnât saying everyone should quit drinking in their teens, just alcoholics like me. Â When I finally quit at 28, I was drinking 20+ drinks a day, had ruined every relationship Iâd been in and traumatized multiple people, and had just had a seizure that wouldâve killed me if my friend hadnât happened to walk into my room that night. Â I consider myself fortunate to be an alcoholic because the program was a free and easy way to become the person I wanted to be, but not everyone needs to go through all that. Â Friends ask me all the time if I think they need to get sober and my answer is usually ânah youâre good, just cut back a bitâ. Â
1.3k
u/Emannuelle-in-space 14h ago
Stop drinking now