Introduction to
20 Good Reasons to Stay Sober
(even if you don't have a drinking problem)
Wisdom can be obtained one of two ways…
1) Wisdom can be taught and learned
2) Wisdom can be obtained through pain
Once advice has been given to someone, it becomes that specific individual’s decision to apply it to his or her own personal life, or disregard it. In a nutshell… “Take it, or leave it”. Some people are taught important lessons about life and apply what they have learned shortly after the lesson. There are some things about life that we have to learn the hard way…through pain. There are also people who continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.
Because I am a man who has experienced much pain due to my own poor decision-making throughout my life, I claim to have a fair amount of wisdom regarding certain aspects of life. I feel that I have also gained a fair amount of wisdom through witnessing pain in others.
I decided to write this book when I found out my wife was pregnant. The thought of bringing a life into this world with the possibility of having them experience emotional pain to the extent of my own personal sufferings was not a good feeling. I realize that all of the advice I have to offer isn’t going to prevent my children from experiencing different forms of pain throughout life. Countless people could write a book of this nature (as the information contained herein isn’t rocket science), but I couldn’t find one which contained information that my child might be able to relate to as a teen or young adult. Therefore, I decided to write my own book for my children to read when the time becomes right based upon my personal testimony. My hope is that the people who read this book might consider some of the concepts herein in an attempt to avoid unnecessary pain.
The only difference between an alcoholic and a drunk person without a drinking problem is that an alcoholic gets drunk more often. The same negative results from an alcoholic getting drunk can happen to a “normal everyday drunk person” who may not have a drinking problem. This is important to remember.
The title of this book is twenty good reasons to stay sober. A separate book probably could be written for each of the twenty reasons that I have stated. I have chosen to keep the story telling to a bare minimum, keeping each reason short, sweet, and to the point.
By far, alcohol use/abuse has solely had the largest negative impact on my life. When reading this book, I ask that you look for similarities and not the differences in relation to your own life.
I would like to take this opportunity to share some concepts regarding alcohol that I have learned, observed, and experienced to all of those willing to listen. It will be up to the reader to determine whether or not the information which follows is information that should be considered when making certain decisions throughout life’s journey.