Today's challenge calls for my views on drugs and alcohol.
First off, I love red wine. Well, and other colors too, but red is definitely my favorite.
I also enjoy beer. Especially those brewed at this establishment in Athens:
To be honest, I'm a pretty light drinker. I've never been a huge partier and now that I've started watching what I eat, I know that a million drinks are a billion calories... so that puts a damper on things.
I don't really like mixed drinks and I'm not a huge fan of hard liquor (much to Jon's dismay). I usually just stick to a good beer or glass o' vino.
I actually didn't start drinking until I was 19. Throughout middle school, high school, and the beginning of college, I was involved in (and then worked for) an organization called PRIDE Youth Programs, a non-profit based in Michigan that focuses on drug and violence prevention and leadership skills for middle and high school kids. It's an amazing organization and I truly believe it's one of the main reasons I am who I am today. It really helped me develop my own leadership and presenting skills AND figure out a bit more of who I am/was at the time.
This is probably a big reason that I never got into heavy drinking in college, even once I quit working for the organization half-way through sophomore year. Seeing what alcohol can do if you aren't careful makes me less interested in over-indulging.
That said, you'd think that my involvement in PYP would mean that I wouldn't have ever touched cigarettes or anything with a 10-foot pole.
Sadly no. When I moved to France in 2008, not only did I quit working for PYP, but I started casually smoking... You know, since everyone here does. When I got back to America later that year I REALLY cut back and ended up being a social smoker on nights out.
It took meeting Jon and starting to run to really get me to stop smoking. I never really did like the taste (it was just something to do with my hands really) so it was easy for me to give up. Although I quit because I am a slow enough runner as it is so I don't need bad lungs on top of it, I'm not going to lie, my main reason for quitting cold turkey was to help Jon quit. When we met, Jon was a much heavier smoker and the fact that I didn't smoke at all really helped him cut back (and then quit). Makes me really happy. He's already 7 years older than me (which kind of sucks sometimes), so I don't want anything to happen to him, especially not some type of cancer that probably could be avoided. So, thankfully, now we're both non-smoking runners... I'm not proud of having smoked, but I am happy to have quit... Had a random cigarette yesterday for the first time in 9 months and, happily, hated it and spent the whole time just trying to flick it enough so I could stomp it out...
That said, Jonboy does does enjoy a good cigar. ;)
Oh, and to cover all my bases... Hard drugs? No thanks.
To sum it up, I'm a beer- and wine-drinkin', non-smoking runner now. There's nothing I like more than a relaxing glass of red wine or a cold beer on a hot day (like this season in France). But, I just have to keep it all in moderation so I don't drink back on all those pounds I've lost!!! :)
