How to Handle an Opportunity to Experiment with Alcohol

It won’t be long before someone is offering you a drink. Here are tips on handling an opportunity to experiment with alcohol.

1. Prepare mentally
You must decide, long before the drink is ever offered, that you will NOT drink — Not under any circumstances… Not for any reason… No matter who is asking… You simply and firmly determine that you WILL NOT drink.  It may help you prepare mentally if you read up on the risks of alcohol. Even a single night of drinking can cause serious health problems and/or hook someone for life!

2. Get Busy
There is an old adage, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.”  It simply means, “If you want to stay out of trouble, stay busy.”  Often you can turn down an event which will involve alcohol and drinking because you have the excuse of something better/more important you need to be involved in.  Get hobbies, participate in sports, improve a talent, practice volunteer work, and interest yourself in helping others.  One of folk’s biggest excuse for drinking is that it is a social activity; so the more you involve yourself in healthy social activities that don’t require alcohol, the better chance you have at actually enjoying social interactions responsibly.

3. Politely decline
Many times a simple “No, thanks” is enough.  It may be that you need to follow up with a proper and firm explanation, so that people understand you are serious about it and aren’t just trying to be polite. W

4.  Run!
Certainly the most effective solution would be to Run, which means to get out of that environment!  If people are drinking in your presence and strongly encouraging you to join them, it is definitely not the ideal place to be. Leave as quickly as possible. Often the invitation to drink will be a repeat invitation. You may decline once, and yet it comes back again from another person, or gets presented from another angle.   As the night moves on, our senses are weakened, our inhibitions naturally lowered, our resolve gets weakened, and our decision-making ability is compromised.  The longer you stay in an environment you are constantly encouraged to drink, the more likely it is that you will take a sip one day.

5. Ask for help
Appeal to an authority figure and let them know that you have no desire to drink but are being pressured to do so.  Make sure it is someone who understands the seriousness of our freedom to choose. You don’t need to fight every battle alone.