natural
 

I have an idea deeply seated in my brain that alcohol is a natural substance, people have been drinking it for millennia, and it's a foregone conclusion that we should imbibe. I, not we. If I don't drink, I am missing out on life itself. It makes no sense, like many of my thoughts.

There are many natural things that can destroy your life or flat out kill you - like much of the flora and fauna of Australia, nicotine, carbon monoxide....

Natural = not always the same thing as good or safe :)

D

I think I understand, Earthshine. I feel that way about bread and ketogenic diets....

Still, Dee is correct. Foxglove is a beautiful, natural flower that contains the medicinal compound digitalis. In correct, tiny doses it can very effectively control symptoms of heart failure, but it is undoubtedly toxic. Lethal even. And totally natural.

Alcohol is medicinal for many. Helpful or recreational for some. But it is TOXIC for me.
Abstaining from alcohol ensures that I experience life instead of missing out on it altogether.

It is a gift to be able to differentiate medicine from poison.

Thinking is natural. People have been doing it for millennia. It is a forgone conclusion that I should think. Part of thinking is to sort through the kaleidoscope of thoughts that I have everyday. The brain is a three pound universe that processes 70,000 thoughts each day using 100 billion neurons that connect at more than 500 trillion points through synapses that travel 300 miles/hour. During this processing, I need to decide what are the goods ones (the keepers) and what are the not so good ones (next, now processing thought# 68,754). If I don't do this, I am missing out on the best life I could have, and that makes no sense. Next.

Alcohol is a natural substance - Science has identified edible alcohol as a chemical - Ethanol that causes multiple types of cancer because it causes DNA mutation while breaking down

People have been drinking it for millenia, yes. But not all who drank were alcoholics. Whoever they were, they had a miserable life for sure. In fact I am pretty sure that even normal but regular drinkers would have had alcohol related diseases ... It doesn't leave anyone so easily.

After that, things like missing out on life seems like AV chatter.

Your thinking got you here…probably time to listen to others?

My brain lies to me, too.
Welcome to the club!
Best of luck on your journey! :ring

Uranium’s natural too, just rocks in the ground.

Sorry, I don’t understand the opening post.

It makes no sense because that's is AV jibberish. The AV never makes sense.
I drank for over 30 years. I missed out on most of my life.

Poison oak is a plant. When I touch it, or get the oils from the plant on my body, I break out in a severe rash that requires a medical intervention. There are some natural plants and substances we are not supposed to be around. This is all that I gathered from your post.

Thinking this was part of what kept me drinking for....decades, that as you say it's natural, why even Jesus turned water into wine.
However, some of us can not handle wine or any alcohol, just like some of us can't tolerate wheat, nuts, or dairy, or sugar, or a whole host of other stuff that is 'natural '
People used to think smoking was good for you, when it first came to Europe back in the 1500's now we laugh at this. Who knows perhaps one-day alcohol and sugar will be seen in the same way, as the killer substances that they are.
I think you already know this, it is just your AV talking.

It's not a matter of believing that all natural things are good for you--poison ivy, hornet stings... It is a thought pattern, not a logical belief. Meanwhile, there is something called the Lindy effect, which suggests that the longer something has been around, the longer it is likely to endure. People have been eating bread, eating meat, drinking wine forever, whereas stuff like high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, are crap that could be killing us before we even know it.

Does that make more sense? We all have behaviors that are influenced by our subconscious, whether the subconscious is "correct" or not.

I'm calling myself out here. If I thought the above explanation was a good reason to drink excessively, I would not be on this site.

Life expectancy had also increased as we understand more about this stuff that has been around forever and what happens if we eat/drink too much of it!
I think earthshine you should not listen anymore to the AV and tell us instead what brought you to this site. You will find there are some good and wise people here.

S o m e people can drink *a* glass of wine with a good meal and some of those people won't even finish that glass of wine.

Me? :lol: I'd be ordering a second BOTTLE of wine and side-eying that unfinished glass in front of Mary.

Not everything is for everybody.

I did the experiment. I won't ever be Mary. No amount of delusional thinking will change that. I was naturally created to love drinking, whether that is biology or environmental - doesn't matter. I'm way better off with alcohol off my menu. Similarly, ice cream. I would eat all the ice cream until I couldn't eat another bite. That's not okay!


P.S. I don't like oysters or okra. They're for someone else.

This site
 

I don’t think that this site is for a logical debate on if alcohol is natural or not.. for the original poster, how does this debate help anyone on here? Except maybe giving fragile new comers a reason to say “screw it” and drink.

I could always think of reasons to drink; but recovery has shown me that there is not one single thing that alcohol can do for me that I can't do for myself. And in recovery I have discovered that the things I thought alcohol could do for me, I can actually do those things better sober, than the alcohol "helped" version of me ever could.

Yeah some of those things took work and practice, but what doesn't? Alcohol covered up and masked my fears, insecurities, and inhibitions. Recovery took all of those away and replaced them with a clam quiet confidence that comes from being comfortable in my own skin and with just being me.

I can talk to people better. I can ski better. I can dance better. I am not afraid to die, but more importantly...I am not afraid to live!!!

. I love this

If it seems like I was attempting to open a debate, that's your misunderstanding of the post. As for "fragile newcomers," I am one. I came on here and shared my mental block, my thought process, what I struggle with. I am not interested in debating with you or anyone else.

Been destroying people for millennia 🙏

Some animals in Africa may eat fermented Marula-plums and become impaired.
This leaves them vulnerable to various misfortunes.