When you are young, you think that there is nothing greater than a night of partying. The booze, the friends, the drunken memories that will last a lifetime! What more fun can you ask for? And then your age starts to catch up with you to the point that you realize, maybe this isn’t what it is all cracked up to be. It takes you longer to recover, it puts a dent in your bank account and it becomes easier for you to turn into a sloppy mess. Before you know it, all your bar friends are off and married, taking care of their kids and homes and you are still sitting on your bar stool asking for another round of shots at 3 AM and contemplating how on earth you used to do this every weekend.
Before you waste your life away at the bar and wonder what did you do with your youth, here are a couple things that you learn after you are done with your partying phase of life (this coming from a former partier herself):
- Your bank account grows. You might not see it now, but you are spending enough money by going out every weekend, that your bank account cries every time it sees your credit card taking another swipe. When you add up all the drink specials, late night eats and car rides to/from, you probably have enough money to retire in the Bahamas by thirty. Okay, maybe not that much, but there is a significant amount of money that can be saved by skipping out on party weekends.
- Your immune system starts to love you again. Alcohol is not something that should be ingested every day. It takes a toll on your immune system and makes you more likely to get sick. Also, alcohol is a demon when it comes to messing with your sleep schedule. By taking a break from partying, you will begin to sleep better as well as your immune system will be able to recover. Your body is going to start loving you again and treating you with the respect that you deserve.
- Your waistline will appreciate it. We have a tendency to forget, alcohol has a lot of calories. It doesn’t matter that it is light beer or you are using diet pop as a mixer, it adds up over time. By putting the bottle down, you will notice that your body will start to feel and look better.
- Sleep becomes a beautiful thing. Before sleep was a necessity, now sleep is just a relaxing luxury. After a night of partying, all you want to do is lay down and recover. After you take a break from the madness of a party weekend, you begin to see how much of a treasure a good night’s sleep really can be. It becomes something that you seek on the weekends versus the next bar that you are going to cruise.
- Your priorities start to come in check. Before, your future was limited to tonight or this weekend. Now, you begin to focus on what is the next step in life. What do you want to do for the next ten years or just simply, what is the next conversation you want to have that does not involve what kind of shot do you want to do next? Realistically, the world looks a little bit brighter when you put the bottle down, take a step back and see the world for what it is.
As a former party girl, I know in my heyday I would have read this and said, “she made some valid points, but I am not changing my ways.” I am not saying that you should give up your party ways; you shouldn’t change your ways just because of what someone wrote. I am just asking that you look at things a little differently. Maybe try it out one weekend and see if you notice anything different. This isn’t about me or you specifically, this is simply just telling you what I have learned and hoping that someone will learn the easy way, instead of the hard way.
Featured image via Riccardo Fissore on Unsplash
