Sober Wednesday - are we being brainwashed?

Once you've been without alcohol for a certain length of time, for me it's been exactly four months - one hundred and twenty days, you start to notice all the images of alcohol that surround us every day.

Confession time: I watch Made in Chelsea. I know, I know, I got into it when it first started and it's too late for me to quit now. Anyway, not only is it sponsored by Baileys, but in practically every scene someone is drinking. Daytime drinking is common, and in the most recent episode one character poured alcohol into someone else's coffee from a hip flask, in a library.

I'm definitely not here to judge, but what kind of message is that sending? These gorgeous young people drinking excessively are being shown as living aspirational lives. People want to be like them, to party with them, to be friends with them. They party all night, drink bloody marys in the morning and then seem to do it all over again. 

The suggestion of course is that if you don't live like that, your life is boring, it's lacking excitement and drama and you need to get out more.

Adverts for alcohol are everywhere, and I only truly started to notice this once I'd not been drinking for a while. The message is clear, drink and you'll have more friends, drink and you'll be more attractive, drink and you'll be more interesting.

I'm here to challenge that.

I ask myself how my life is different now that I'm a non-drinker. Here's what springs to mind:

• I am clear headed
• I get way more done
• I'm more motivated to do work first thing in the day, then the rest of my time is my own
• I have more spare cash, which I'm using to save up for holidays (definitely NOT boring)
• I know that I'm doing an amazing thing to look after my skin, my body, and my general health
• I have become more open-minded
• I remember conversations with more clarity so I don't hear people say 'I'm sure I told you' anymore
• I never have hangovers!
• I never fear looking at my bank statement after a night out
• I have the mental space and time to actually think about what I want to do with my life, rather than drifting through on auto-pilot

What the alcohol advertisers don't want you to know is that life is better when you're not drinking, it's more full, more alive, your relationships are more meaningful, and your holidays will be kick-ass.

How has your life changed since you stopped drinking? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time,

SSV x