Even more poignantly, alcohol is the most widely used drug in the world. Well over half of all Americans over the age of 12 are regular consumers of alcohol, and there are currently many millions of alcoholics in the U.S. alone. Indeed, more than 100,000 Americans die each year due to their alcohol consumption. Even more disturbing, there are currently at least 60 other countries that imbibe more alcohol per capita than the United States!

Even in moderate amounts, drinking alcohol impairs vision, warps memories and irreparably damages the brain. Consuming alcohol also elevates one’s blood pressure, increases the likelihood that you will suffer a stroke and/or a heart attack, and enhances the chance that one will contract mouth &/or throat cancer. Various liver diseases caused by alcohol abuse kill over 25,000 Americans each year, and even moderate use has been shown to harm the pancreas, the kidneys and the immune system.

Much more importantly, however, are the effects alcohol has on our mental clarity and emotional state of being. Alcohol is a powerful depressant, and an equally powerful obscurer of reality. It impairs discernment, garbles verbal communication, intensifies feelings of apathy towards others, and leads to feelings of meaninglessness towards one’s own existence.

“I am more afraid of alcohol than of all the bullets of the enemy. “ ~ Thomas Jefferson

But this is no big deal for most of us, right? After all, its only “those alcoholics” that have these problems, not us “moderate drinkers” …

Well, you can believe that rationalization if you wish, and yet a delusion it remains. You might very well not be a classic “alcoholic”, and yet every ounce of alcohol you imbibe – be it in drink one or in drink twenty, obscures your ability to live with clarity in your life, and thereby obscures your ability to act in harmony with your True Self.

Do you drink to relax or “unwind” after work? Do you find yourself disappointed if you can’t drink a cold beer with your Mexican food or a glass of red wine with your pasta? Does it take more than one drink on an empty stomach to feel a “buzz”? Do you sometimes wonder if you drink too much? Do you drink alone? Do you long for a drink whenever you go to a bar or a restaurant? Do you make extra trips out of the house to obtain alcohol if none is available? Do you drink to “party or “feel high”?

If you answered any of these questions in the affirmative, then you are enough of an “addict” to benefit from abstaining from alcohol.

“Our government’s got a war on drugs … But get this: The most widely abused and addictive and destructive of all substances is perfectly legal.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Personally, of course, I rally don’t care what you do. Your relationship to alcohol is none of my business and doesn’t really concern me. And yet I DO Care deeply FOR each of you, and I do know from personal experience that alcohol is both extremely insidious and extremely destructive. It contributed mightily to the death of my brother (who was a self-professed alcoholic), it contributed mightily to the “death” of my last relationship, and even though I am not a classic alcoholic by any means, it contributed mightily to my own suffering during those few times in my past when I chose to imbibe “in excess”.

Only you can decide what role alcohol will play in your life. Maybe you will continue to drink regularly, maybe you will continue to drink only every now & then, and maybe you will choose to stop drinking entirely … That choice is yours today and will remain yours for the rest of your life.

Though there is no objective “right” or “wrong” regarding addictions or addictive behaviors, there ARE direct consequences for every choice we make – so I would simply encourage you to have the humility to deeply ponder this information, and then have the presence to make your subsequent choices both CONSCIOUSLY & CARE-FULLY …

Happy trails, either Way!

“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson