Augie and Merissa have been in a dating relationship for eight years. They met while taking the same Italian language and culture class at a relatively large, countryside, liberal arts college located in the Southern part of the U.S. While they were for the most part good pals at first, they at long last started dating when they were in their second year of college.
Due to the fact both of them came from very traditional backgrounds, neither one of them drank very much beyond the testing stage when they first began dating. As the time proceeded, then again, they started to go to more happy hours, sorority and fraternity parties, keg parties, and football bashes. As a consequence, they little by little began to drink increasingly more as time passed by.
Their Social Life Usually Consisted of Going to Restaurants Three or Four Nights Per Week, Going to Parties With Their Friends, Going to Happy Hour With Their Friends, Going to Professional Sporting Events, and Going With Their Friends to the Local Nightspot on the Weekends
After they graduated, they both found employment in a relatively large city located around fifty miles from their undergraduate college. Then they at long last decided to move in with one another.
Due to the fact they were far removed from the college drinking scene, nonetheless, their social life typically consisted of going to restaurants three or four nights per week, going to professional sporting events, going to happy hour with their friends, going to parties with their friends, and going to the local pub with their buddies on the weekends. Stated more precisely, Merissa and Augie began drinking quite extensively.
Now that they were living in the same apartment with one another and starting to get more steadfast about their relationship, nonetheless, they started thinking about getting married, having children, becoming more responsible, and buying a house.
With any momentous modification in a person’s life there is normally something that sets off the specific adjustment in question. For Augie and Merissa the thought of buying a new house and having children was this “change agent.” Stated simply, for the first time in their lives, Augie and Merissa began to critically evaluate their hazardous and abusive drinking and the long term alcohol effects on their lives.
How Would Their Excessive and Irresponsible Drinking Affect Their Relationship With Their Parents, Their Ability to Have Children, Their Mental Health, Their Finances, and Their Relationship With One Another?
Would their hazardous and excessive drinking negatively affect their ability to have children? How would they be able to continue spending a large percentage of their money on drinking if they were to begin saving for a new house? How mature would they be if they had children and continued to drink in an abusive and hazardous manner? How would they be able to face their parents and tell them about their long term aspirations, dreams, and hopes while they still drank in an excessive and irresponsible manner while having fun as they did when they were in college? What would their hazardous drinking do to their relationship? How would their drinking behavior affect their mental health?
From a different perspective, although neither one of them ever suffered from alcohol poisoning, received a DUI, or experienced alcohol withdrawal symptoms, they realized that their excessive drinking was becoming an issue that they could not close their eyes to anymore.
After Giving Their Circumstances Some Serious Deliberation, Merissa and Augie Finally Comprehended That Their Plans, Dreams, and Hopes Would not be Reached if They Continued Their Hazardous Drinking
All of these inquiries unmistakably led to the same conclusion: Merissa and Augie needed to comprehend more clearly that they couldn’t continue their abusive and heavy drinking if their plans, hopes, and dreams were to be met.
Once they settled upon this conclusion, they told their drinking buddies about their goal of buying or building a new house, about their plans to start a family, and about their marital plans. They also told their drinking buddies that they still wanted to associate with them but that they would be drinking in strict moderation from this point forward so that they could start realizing their future aspirations, goals, and dreams.
Much to their surprise, all of their pals expressed relief because they too had been taking into account the direction of their lives and concluded that their life-styles were totally centered around drinking. They also realized that they would have to change substantially if they were to become more responsible and exhibit more respect for their careers, their health, and for their goals in the next twenty or twenty-five years.
After their candid chat with their buddies about their goals, dreams, and aspirations, Augie and Merissa essentially started to have more meaningful relationships with all of their friends. The main reason for this was the fact that all of them had the same mindset regarding their excessive and hazardous drinking and their short and long-term plans, goals, and aspirations.