Alternatives to Drinking and Using

         Alternatives to Drinking and Using

If you’re a teenager or young adult, it may seem like a lot of fun to get high or drunk. When you look at your friends who are inebriated, they don’t seem to have a care in the world. Any troubles are buried under the intoxication. You may choose to join in so you can fit in, be cool or forget your problems. Before you make that choice, it would be better if you could take a closer look at those people’s lives and see what kind of harm they might be experiencing that is not so simple to see from the exterior.

Hangovers, getting alarmingly close to overdoses, emergency room visits, upset and fights with family, dropping grades, lost scholarships or jobs, damaged relationships, boring perceptions, gloomy thinking, bad memory, illness and injury– these are the typical results or using drugs or drinking. But nobody cautions you about this the first time you reach for a pipe, a bottle, syringe or pill.

      
Take your pick from our selection. It’s our hope that you uncover (if you’re not sure now) that living sober is a lot more fun than joining those who are drinking or using drugs.

   -  Do you love sports? There’s leagues for bowling, softball, touch/flag football, soccer, hockey, basketball and volleyball. But perhaps you didn’t know there’s also leagues for water polo, frisbee, broomball, kickball and dodgeball.

    

 Not into sports? Challenging mind games like Tetris, or word puzzles are a notable example of ways to test the limits of your brain functions while occupying your free time in between your daily schedule.

   

 Feeling adventurous? Go to the beach, do yoga, or go horseback riding. Ropes courses are fun and time consuming, as well as biking or snorkeling. 

    Pick up reading. Go to the library, get reading lists for your grade level or areas of interest. Keep doing this until you find something you really enjoy and then focus on that.

    Join a gym. Not just any gym, but look around until you find one where the other people look like you do and work out like you want to.

    Start an online course. The sky is pretty much the limit here. You can find free classes from Microsoft on how to use their software, tutorials from Adobe on using page layout or photo editing software, photography, animation, music, anything. It will instruct you how to do just about anything, from roasting pumpkin seeds to making a coat out of a blanket

   

Visit a zoo, aquarium or another intereting place for you.  

There’s hundreds of opportunities here. Homeless shelters (some for women and children), hospitals, homes for the elderly, these need help in many towns. A few areas need help taking out plants that don’t belong there (called invasive species), parks may need assistance building trails or preserving playgrounds. Beach spots are often the focus of cleanup events. If you have a talent for working with kids, there may be tutoring possibilities or you may be able to help the autistic. If you attend church, the personnel are sure to know of individuals or organizations who need volunteers. Recommendation: If you’re volunteering for the first time, keep your oblig.