Babble on in Babylon

WARNING: this post not for entertainment purposes.  I will not be held responsible if you feel let down or non-entertained in any way.

So, I drink a lot.  Mostly water but other stuff too.

To start with, I drink this concoction dubbed (by me) the “cardboard milkshake.”  Konsyl is just psyllium husks mixed with water.  It’s purely for the utilitarian purpose of insuring an adequate amount of fiber in my diet.

And I drink a little decaffeinated coffee.  Every once in a while a splenda sweetened caffeine-free cola.  Caffeine is not the best choice for me.  Maybe later I’ll go into that.

But today I’m thinking about alcohol, as I have so many times over the last 18 years.   This morning as I was thinking about it, and being wishy-washy as usual, I thought maybe if I made a pros and cons list, it would help to see the subject a little more clearly.

First for clarification purposes, let me posit that neither beer nor liquor are good choices for me.  Beer tends to give me cravings for lots and lots of sugar and white flour and doughy-goodness - and since I have forsaken all of those things for the sake of both my health and weight loss, beer is out.

Liquor doesn’t give me any cravings, per se, but it does clash with my tendency to guzzle my beverages.  When I put a drink to my mouth, I mean business.  The water and cardboard milkshake consumption have assured that I just go ahead and drink it, whatever it is.  Sipping is not in my drinking vocabulary.  So liquor is out, for obvious reasons.

That brings us to wine.  I just can’t figure it out.  Can I drink wine?  Should I drink wine?  Will I drink wine?  I tend to be heavily influenced by the latest thought that springs into my head, which means sometimes I think wine is fine, and sometimes it’s the devil.  See my (ongoing) problem?

Thus, a list.  Maybe it will help make sense of this old, tired question.

Pros of drinking a few glasses of wine:

relaxation of tension, stress

relaxation of inhibitions (sexual, judgemental)

fun

social acceptance

Uh, that was a short list.

Cons of drinking a few glasses of wine:  

sometimes “a few” turns into “a few too many”

diminishing returns of relaxation (this is recent and not because of increased consumption)

inability to clearly handle any situation that may arise with our children, especially emergencies

costs money

implying to children that everyone does it, and that it’s perfectly ok

loss of motivation, sometimes for days afterwards

loss of healing, restoring rest

possible headache

making people around me with alcoholic issues believe that they can have just a few and be fine, or making them wish they could

Well that’s a start.  I know there are more on both sides of the list - they pop into my head all the time.  But for now I’ll let this list marinate.  Maybe you have some more ideas?  Or any feedback?  If you have any relevant additions I will update this post as necessary.

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