B. I only drink at home, to relax!

A lot of people only do drugs at home, many only abuse spouses and children at home, many harmful behaviors are only done at home, so what could only doing it at home tell you? Maybe that you are just irresponsible and causing harm at home? So you see, you cannot win for losing, at least not with alcohol.

D. I use a designated driver.

A designated driver is a responsible idea, but it does not make you responsible. You can make good decisions and be irresponsible and it is time to stop trying to add I am a responsible drinker to your drinking just because you made a good decision. If you want to be responsible become the designated driver, not the designated drunk and again stop trying to make excuses in regards to alcohol and responsibility.

E. I only drink on occasion, or weekends, or special occasions.

This is a sad worn out excuse to try to convince yourself of your responsibility level. Well I could drink all the time, well yes you could and it is a good decision not to, but good decisions do not make you responsible; being responsible makes you responsible. Granted there are ways of acting responsible while drinking, with acting being the key word, as there may be good decisions and signs of knowing your limits, or not breaking the law, but they are not signs of responsibility. Responsibility has to do with doing what you need to be doing, when you need to be doing it.

          You are now working for a true responsibility towards self and others, as you remain mindful of the false responsibilities common among addiction thinking, including that which thinks that one can be a responsible drinker. Alcohol may be legal, but it is still just a drug of choice, which still alters thought patterns and when a person is purposely and haphazardly altering brain chemicals they cannot logically be considered responsible.

           It is time to realize that just because you eliminate some of the chances of a worse outcome and supposedly do no harm and even if you give it a pretty flavor and paint happy faces on it, alcohol is a poisonous substance which changes brain activity and affects responses and abilities and can in no way be considered responsible or not dangerous by a logical responsible thinking person. This is where maturity comes into play, because losing the; “well at least I did this or did not do that” is a hit to your rationalization process. Now if you want to be responsible you add; I made the decision to not use alcohol, because responsibility cannot be added to something that negatively affects and always lowers your ability to respond properly, while doing damage to your mind, body, brain and nervous system.

          The idea of responsible drinking of alcoholic beverages is a ploy to shift responsibility, as this drug causes chemical imbalances in the brain, causes thinking patterns to be disturbed affects the central nervous system and lowers inhibitions while changing thoughts, emotions, judgment and health. So how could someone say; be responsible using this stuff which makes it illegal, or dangerous, for you to do so many of the normal responsible activities of daily living; because your brain has been altered and you cannot be considered responsible, or safe, after altering your brains chemical balance with drugs and alcohol.

           It is time to realize that responsibility is based on needs, not wants, as well as on what you do to make life better and safer, while doing what you should be doing; legally, morally and safely, when and where you should be doing it; to better yourself, your family and your community.

       So now you can spend your life justifying and making excuses for past poor decision making, or you can take responsibility and change your thoughts, as this is your power and it belongs with your good decisions, not with the excuses that you are willing to make for the past, because you must remember that even though alcohol can influence responses and abilities, you are still responsible for your actions, as you have the power to act on any thoughts that alcohol influences, so if you want to learn to be a better person than you have to break any influence that alcohol tries to bind to your mind.    

Remember that alcohol, drugs and things do not have power, yet they can be given false ability by and through your thoughts, as you allow them to change your thinking, even as far as to have you say that they have power over you. You need to be cautious, as this talk is illogical and dangerous and your brain may come to believe that they do have power, or that you are a liar. So tell yourself the truth, which is that you hold the power, even if you do not use it properly, it is still your power, responsibility and decision and now is the time to make the right decisions, to find the real truths and to learn to keep seeing things differently than past beliefs would have you see them.

          Think about everything else you could be doing while your drinking and if there is not any place else that you could be, such as, with your family, kids, work, church etc, and nothing more constructive you could be doing with your family, kids, work, church etc, and nothing that needs done to better your relationship with your family, kids, work, church, community etc and if that time and money could not be used for the sake of your family, kids, work, church, or to help another etc, then maybe you really are where you are supposed to be at this moment in time, wasting time and money, altering your thoughts and damaging your body, your brain and your reputation? But even if you believe this is where you are supposed to be, this still does not equal responsible or logical and is a sure waste of your abilities and the time that you could be sharing with those who truly need you to be responsible, including yourself, so make a decision of responsibility, not just towards yourself, but towards your family community as a whole.