Avoid Doing Something Really Stupid

Reason # 7

There is a difference between embarrassing yourself and doing something really stupid. The two are closely related, but there is a difference.

Most of us know that alcohol alters judgment. The more you drink, the more your judgment becomes impaired. Not only does alcohol alter your judgment, at certain times it also seems to unleash or release a “demon” inside you that you may or may not be aware even existed. Just for the record, one definition of “demon” is “a persistently tormenting person, force, or passion”.

There was a time when my brother and I were drinking a case of beer. Being a drunken fool, out of nowhere I decided to punch a hole in the wall of our house with my fist. We laughed hysterically to the point where my brother decided to do the same. After the smoke cleared the next day, I was at the hardware store buying several drywall repair kits to fix the holes we had punched in the walls. I didn’t think it was very funny then, especially having to spend money on drywall repair kits when I only made close to minimum wage.

Now, what would cause a couple of people to start punching holes in the walls of their house for no reason at all? I have a hard time imagining that I would do anything like this while I was sober. There is just absolutely no logical reason for doing something like this. Alcohol can be “a demon”.

Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world, gives you free drinks if you are gambling. This isn’t a great revelation, as everyone who has been to Vegas probably knows you are offered free drinks if you are gambling. I’d have to say most everyone probably has a basic understanding why Las Vegas gives you free alcohol, but really think about this…

Why do people gamble? Well, people may gamble for several reasons, but to keep it simple let’s just say people gamble because of greed. Las Vegas knows that the odds of winning are in the houses favor. Most players know that the odds of winning are against them. Now if we mix alcohol and greed, the odds are extremely good that you’re going to lose much more money than you intended to lose, or maybe continue to play when you should quit. Even with having just a couple of drinks, it is extremely possible to begin making decisions based on emotion rather than logic. Giving your hard-earned money away to a casino could be considered not wise. Giving much more money away than you originally intended to the casino because alcohol impaired your judgment could be considered stupid.

When a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas asks you if you would like a drink, what they are really asking is, “Can we help you impair your judgment so we can take more money than you originally intended to spend?” There’s a reason the alcohol is free and it’s not because they like you. Gambling can be an addiction of it’s own. People make bad decisions on what to play, how much to bet, and when to stop, even when they are sober…alcohol simply adds fuel to the fire. Casino gambling is dumb but if you’re going to gamble, don’t drink while your doing it.

Personal morals and standards are compromised when heavily under the influence of alcohol. People can compromise their morals and standards while in a sober state, but they become much, much, much easier to compromise while intoxicated. One of the best examples of this is cheating on your mate or spouse. Someone may have a strong bond with his or her mate and in a sober state might say, “I would NEVER do that!” One thing is for sure, when you start running alcohol through your system in heavy doses, NEVER SAY NEVER! What’s really even more interesting is if you compromise your morals and standards while under the influence of alcohol, it becomes easier thereafter to compromise your morals and standards again while sober.

One good example of someone doing something really stupid while drunk is a story that I saw on the news. A bunch of guys were drinking very heavily, and one of the men tried to shoot a beer can off of another man’s head with a bow and arrow. So this guy is standing there with a beer can on his head. The arrow being shot missed the beer can and was driven right into his head (by way of one of his eyes). This is a true story. I’d like to think this is something they would not have tried if they were sober. Alcohol has a tendency to give us a false sense of security as this story indicates.

I had an alcohol counselor who told a story about having a false sense of security and doing something stupid while drunk. He said that he was going to a party at a friend’s house. When he showed up at the door, there was a big German Shepherd barking at him through the screen door. He said that he refused to enter the house unless the dog was locked in a room or the dog was put in the back yard, as he was terrified of dogs. The people of the house agreed to put the dog in the back yard. As the party went on, the counselor proceeded to get belligerently drunk. By the end of the evening he found himself in the back yard teasing and wrestling with the big dog.

This dog didn’t hurt him, but in his mind, teasing and wrestling with a big German Shepherd was an extremely stupid thing to do. This story did take place before he became an alcohol counselor.

Do you know of anyone who has done something really stupid because they were heavily intoxicated?

Really think about this…

Have you ever done something really stupid when you were drunk that you probably would not have done if you were sober?

Most of us do something which could be considered “stupid” from time to time throughout our lives even when we are stone cold sober. Although, when we start running alcohol through our system we increase the odds of doing so. Keeping in touch with reality and making decisions with a clear mind can help prevent you from doing something really stupid. This is a very good reason to stay sober.