Name: Jordan Peterson on Alcohol
Uploaded: 2019-05-28T21:54:54.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jordan Peterson on Alcohol' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2019-05-28. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jordan Peterson on Alcohol' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2019-05-28. Transcript available.

I'm in a 12-step program, I'm in an AA, right, so I was an hour, you know, I'm
in recovery, so almost two years now.
And that really changed my life, getting into, you know, 12 steps, and, you
know, we'll, you know, and I know that's your book.
But I, one of the things that stuck with me is esteemable people do esteemable
things.
And it's like...
Right.
And it's like when you have that choice to do something...
It's better than alcohol, man.
Yeah.
Yeah, and the funny thing is, if you're trying to stop drinking, you need
something better than alcohol.
And alcohol's pretty good.
Yeah.
So you better find something a lot better, man.
Yeah, and it is, and then esteemable people do esteemable things.
It's like, yeah, well, you want to figure out, you want to figure out something
that you're doing with your life that's worth not getting drunk and screwing up.
Yeah.
Right?
Because that's fun.
Yeah, you want to have something on the other side of that teeter-totter that
has some value to you.
You bet, you bet.
And so that you can think, no, no, I'm not going to get drunk and screw that up.
Right.
Because, you know, you might say, well, why do people drink too much?
It's like, if you like alcohol, that's a stupid question.
Yeah.
Right?
It's like, why do people drink too much?
Well, because it's great.
You know, it's like, okay, so why stop?
Well, you do stupid things when you're drunk.
You hurt yourself.
You compromise your health.
It's really hard on the people around you.
You tend to turn into a liar and it screws up your life.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, but it's pretty fun.
Yeah, well, it is.
But you need something better than that.
And what's better isn't being straight and not making mistakes.
It's like, that's all prohibition in some sense.
What's better is, no, you need an adventure, man.
You need to get out there and have something to do.
Yeah.
And something worth waking up for.
And you need, that's the substitute for the addiction.
Actually, the addiction is the substitute for that, if truth be known.
Right.
But eventually you can flip that around and you can find that, you know, the
much girthier
and more, there's a lot of sexy weight and having self-worth, you know, and
that's what I've
started to slowly find in my life.
Yeah, and you might also, like the thing too is, you know, I mean, there's
something kind
of, I don't know, the bar scene, the heavy drinking scene, there's something
kind of edgy
about it, you know, and something kind of adventurous about it.
And, you know, you see that it's kind of dramatized in people like Tom Waits,
who's got that real
hard edge, or Johnny Cash, or people, hard living guys, you know.
Oh yeah, guys with six or seven livers in them.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, well, there's something kind of romantic about that.
Yes.
And fair enough, you know, but, well, then what that means is you have to build
something
like that into your own life.
So maybe you need to go, maybe you need to, you know, take an adventurous trip
now and
then.
You've got to have something there that's edgy to replace that.
And sometimes if people need a catalyst, so there's that moment, right?
Like for me, the catalyst was like, you know, I needed to probably, I was
experimenting with
cocaine and I sacrificed like a neat job opportunity with that.
I had planned on being there for the job, and next thing you know, I'd spent
the night doing
cocaine.
Right.
And so I realized, okay, this is not, this is a little out of my control, so I
have to
make this.
But if people don't have that sort of...
I'm sure this must have happened when you decided to stop drinking.
You must have thought, this isn't good.
I'm not going to be funny anymore, I thought that.
Okay.
I thought there was going to be ramifications, yeah.
Okay, and so what were they?
What did you foresee happening?
I thought I wouldn't be funny.
I thought that people wouldn't like me.
I thought that I wouldn't be able to meet girls if I wasn't drinking or, you
know, or having
drugs or...
Right, so that was what you were afraid of giving up if you stopped drinking.
Right.
What were you afraid of happening if you kept drinking?
I was afraid of not achieving my dreams.
Right.
I was afraid of, you know, ending up a drug addict.
Yeah, so, okay.
I was afraid of dying in my sleep.
Something, you know, or dying under the influence.
Okay, so there, so there, yeah, it's not like that doesn't happen to comedians.
Right.
It happens a lot.
Yeah, it's one of our, dude, it's one of our go-to moves.
Well, right, exactly.
Well, it's not an occupational hazard because you're up late at night and you're
around
bars all the time.
It is, it is.
It is.
Because you're up late at night and you're partying.
Yeah, Chris Farley right here.
Right, right.
Happened to him.
Well, and it happened to all sorts of comedians and rock musicians.
It usually happens at about 27, you know, weirdly enough.
So, okay, so you were afraid you were afraid you're going to die or you're
afraid you're
going to become addicted.
So, let's say, what would have life been like for you if you were addicted?
So, you don't have a career anymore.
No.
Right, so you've given all that up and failed.
So, that's fun.
So, that's going to drive you even more towards drugs.
Yeah, it would have been all my dreams.
It would have been miserable.
Right, right.
It would have been hell.
Exactly.
So, why quit drinking?
So, I don't end up in hell.
Hey, there's a reason, there's a reason to stop.
And then if you make that hell real, it's like, here's all the details of my
personal hell.
Yes, let's avoid that.
Right.
So, then you have something to run the hell away from.
Right, so now you have something towards and something to run away from.
And I'll say this too, as you, if there's any young men or women out there who
are listening
to Jordan feeling like, well, I still, I don't know if, you know, if I start
doing something
different, like my friends are going to have to start.
Yeah, they are.
They are.
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
But you're also, you're going to start creating conversations.
You're going to become the intrigue.
Because you're going to be bringing something new to the table.
You're also going to find out who your friends are.
Yeah.
Because if you're starting to put your life together and you have friends that
object,
those are not friends.
Those are just people you know.
They're not friends because a friend is someone, this is one of the hallmarks
of a friend.
Here's two hallmarks.
A friend is someone you can tell bad news to and they won't tell you why you're
an idiot
and they won't interfere with your suffering.
They'll just listen.
They'll just listen and maybe they'll suffer along with you.
Okay.
So you can tell bad news to them and they won't tell you some worst thing that
happened to
them.
They'll listen and they'll suffer along with you.
But a friend is also someone you can tell good news to.
And the friend will say, wow, in this veil of tears, something good happened to
you.
Great, man.
Congrats.
I'm wonderful.
It's rare.
It's unlikely.
Good for you.
I hope 10 more things like that happen.
And they're not envious and they're not jealous and they're not one-upping you.
And if you're trying to get your life together, it's actually, if you're trying
to get your
life together and your friends get in the way, that's actually real useful for
you because
you've now identified who your friends aren't.
And you might think, well, I can't give them up.
It's like, oh, yes, you can.
And not only can you, you should, and it would be better for them.
Because if they're aiming down and they want you going down with them, there's
nothing
good about what's happening to them.
And there's certainly nothing good about that for you.
Yeah, they're not going to, and then they're going to learn, wow, if I, I'm
going to
lose friends if I continue in these directions.
Yeah.
Exactly, exactly.
Is it hard for, why is it hard for people to let go of what's so familiar with
to them,
even if it's bad?
Well, because it's complicated.
You know, and the thing, that's a really good question.
You discount the risk of familiarity that they're familiar with.
So like, let's say.
Because people are in relationships.
People are in relationships with the drugs and alcohol.
People are in relationships with humans.
People are in relationships with jobs.
People are in relationships with their own selves.
And they live, they're living a lie every single day, but it's familiarity.
Yeah, well, you say, I have a job I hate.
It's like, well, yeah, but I'm not dying from it.
It's like, not as bad as it can be.
So you kind of, you kind of, you factored in the risks already.
They get invisible.
You think, well, I can't jump out of this job because what about all the risk?
It's like, yeah, no kidding.
You got to make a, you got to get your resume in order.
You got to send it out.
You got to send 50 of the damn things out before anybody will call you back.
Then you have to go get interviewed and maybe you're not any good at that.
You have to come up with a story while you're a good employee and maybe, and
maybe you're
not yet.
So you have to figure out how to do that.
It's like, what about all these risks?
If I go look for a new job, it's like, yeah, absolutely, man.
Those are risks and they're harsh and no wonder you're avoiding them.
What about the risks for you to stay with this job you absolutely hate?
Well, let's think that through.
Okay.
So I have this dead end job.
I hate it.
I'm getting bitter.
Where am I going to be in five years?
I know where, because I've watched this with people.
You're going to be, you're going to be just like you are now, except a lot more
of what's
good about you is going to be gone.
And a lot more of what's terrible is going to be amplified.
And you're going to be like, in five years, you're going to be 10 years older
instead
of three years older.
Yeah.
Right.
Because it kills your spirit somehow.
Oh man.
Yeah.
So it's like, you think, oh my God, there's a terrible risk in pursuing this
new job.
It's like, yeah, there is a terrible risk.
There's a terrible risk in you staying with your job right now.
And so one of the things that's really freeing to understand is that you're
screwed no matter
what you do.
Ah.
There's no secure path forward.
Give it up.
It's risk everywhere.
You think, oh my God, that's terrible.
It's like, yes, except for two things.
You can pick your risk.
That's the first thing.
So you get to pick your poison.
That's something.
And second, you're a lot tougher than you think.
So even though there's risk everywhere, if you confront it forthrightly, what
you'll find
is that you can actually handle the risk.
And that's the security.
That's beautiful.
And there's so much growth to be had right there when you realize how much,
like there
were times I was like, man, I could never be a sober person because I'm afraid
of, you
know, I can't communicate with women or I'm afraid to, you know, stand around
in a circle
with tough guys without having like a beer in my hand, you know, or like all
these little
crutches, you know, I can't.
And then I remember when I got like 90 days sober, I was just like, holy shit,
man, like
it was like the first time I'd ever done something like for myself, you know,
and it just, man,
it felt, it felt unprecedented.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it was.
It felt like I'd gone to the moon.
How old were you when you started drinking?
I don't know, probably like 17 or 16, you know, kind of regular.
Yeah.
It was pretty basic and I never did a bunch of it, you know, but my biggest,
biggest thing was just emotional sobriety.
Like I was so drunk on my own insecurities and low self-worth.
Well, alcohol, alcohol really is a good drug for coping with anxiety.
That's why people use it.
So it does too, if you, if you really like alcohol, it does, it does two things
to you.
It makes you more extroverted and enthusiastic while you're on the ascending
limb of the blood
alcohol curve, which is why you have to keep drinking once you start.
Because if you plateau, that goes away.
So you've got to keep drinking.
Okay.
So that's one thing.
It makes you more enthusiastic and, and more full of positive emotion.
And the second thing it does is reduce anxiety.
Yeah.
And so if you are a bit more socially anxious and you also have that positive
response to
alcohol, which everyone doesn't have, by the way, then it's a great drug.
But the problem is it's, well, it's a great drug for the moment.
Right.
Right.
There's, there's consequences.
Yeah.
This sounds like it's not great.
Well, it also, alcohol is an interesting drug because it, it, it actually doesn't
make
people stupid.
This has been tested.
Like alcohol, people who are drunk will take far more risk.
And you might say, well, that's because they're too stupid to understand the
risk.
It's like, no, they're not.
If you ask them about the risk when they're drunk, they can outline it
perfectly.
What it stops them from doing is caring about the risk.
It's actually, and that's part of the anti-anxiety components.
Like, yeah, the risk is, that's why you can drive around drunk at high speed in
a car,
which is a really stupid thing to do.
Yeah.
We used to do that in the back roads of Northern Alberta.
It's fun.
Yeah.
You know, but, but people died all the time doing it, especially in the winter.
It's like, wow, this is great.
It's great until your head's gone through the windshield, you know, like so
many things.
Yeah.
It's like jumping off a cliff.
It's, I'm flying, which is true until the last one-tenth of a second.
It's like, then you're not flying, man.
It's like, yeah, yeah.
So, so alcohol, alcohol has exactly that effect.
It is a great anti-anxiety drug, but it does stop you.
And you said it stopped you from learning the skills that you need in a social
circumstance
to be able to cope with that.
So then it actually stops you from dealing with the anxiety.
You don't have to learn how to overcome it.
That's not good.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're not really learning.
You're kind of just staying in the, you're just, you're baiting the, you're,
you're kind
of meeting the anxiety with a little bit of light medication, but you're never
getting
through whatever the anxiety was.
You don't, you don't have to learn the skills.
Well, you said you like to stand there with a beer in your hand.
We'll give you something to do.
You didn't know what else to do.
And then you didn't have to learn.
Right.
I had the same issue.
Like I started drinking when I was 13, probably.
Yeah.
And, and that's late in Canada.
Yeah, that's right.
I mean, I was way behind my neighbors.
They were slogging it back when they were four.
Oh, I've been in Edmonton and I've seen people, I mean, it's just, people love
to drink up
there.
They certainly do.
It's a fun culture, right?
It's a cultural thing.
On the farther north you go, the more the drinking becomes necessary,
especially in the
winter, you know?
So, and there's not that much to do in those isolated small towns.
Yeah.
I drink, I drink my own blood probably.
Yeah.
Well, that's it.
Well, that's funny.
When I used to go back to the little town I was from when I was an adult, even
if I hadn't,
hadn't really had anything to drink for years, it was like, well, what are we
going
to do?
Well, let's go to the bar.
Why?
Well, because there actually isn't anything else to do, so, you know, and so
you end up
there, but the alcohol is, well, it's a hell of a drug, man.
You've got to watch it.
Do you think it's going to start to get outdated?
I start to think that alcohol is almost a drug of the past, slowly.
Like, I could see us, like, with psychedelics and stuff like that becoming a
little bit
more in, like, the common sphere of conversation.
Well, it'd be interesting to see that we just legalized marijuana in Canada.
Yeah.
Yeah, like, it's not completely legal yet, but the bill was passed, and so
Canada is doing
this countrywide experiment, and I know there is some data showing that in
counties in the
U.S. where marijuana has been legalized, the overuse of opiates for pain has
decreased
substantially.
That's awesome.
And the crime rates have gone down.
Interesting.
Well, people stoned on pot?
Dude, it's hard to pick somebody's pocket.
People break into a building?
I don't think so.
You're just not going to get it together to do that.
You might knock for a long time.
Yeah, yeah.
I think you might knock at the front door.
I don't think you're going to break in, though.
And you're not going to, you might, that's right, you might knock.
You're not going to go out, what, are you going to go out in the alley and have
a fight?
No, you're not.
A real slow fight.
Yeah, that's right.
While you're watching your hands, like, yeah.
So it's like chess with your hands?
Exactly, exactly.
That's not going to happen.
So, yeah, who knows?
Like, I mean, if we had to make a bad drug legal, the worst choice was alcohol.
It's definitely the case.
You know, and I'm saying that as somewhat of a fan of alcohol.
No, me too.
Yeah, I like it.
But it's a bad drug.
And is it also starting to become archaic as we get into drugs that are, you
know, like,
you know, people are using psychedelics more, where people are a little bit
curious about
drugs that make you think instead of...
Instead of drugs that make you not think.
Right.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, because alcohol is kind of an escape into, well, it's not full
unconsciousness,
although it certainly can be.
Yeah.
But yeah, and alcohol also makes people aggressive.
It's the only drug we know that actually makes people aggressive.
So you see a massive effect on crime rates, because half the people who murder
someone are
drunk.
Oh, yeah.
And half the people who are murdered are drunk.
And, you know, and you're most likely to be murdered by a family member.
So I've been joking with my audiences.
It's like, well, if you really want to get killed, the best thing to do is go
drink with
a family member.
So, which is actually statistically true, which is terribly, terribly comical.
It's like, yeah, go get drunk with your family if you want to die.
Good evening.
Good afternoon.
And other times.
Thanks for watching that video you just saw.
I mean, it was okay.
But the next video you could watch could be way better.
What if you watch a video right now that changes your life?
Well, you could watch this one or watch this one.
Watch this one.
Watch this one.
Watch this one.
Ah!

Jordan Peterson on Alcohol

I'm in a 12-step program, I'm in an AA, right, so I was an hour, you know, I'm
in recovery, so almost two years now.
And that really changed my life, getting into, you know, 12 steps, and, you
know, we'll, you know, and I know that's your book.
But I, one of the things that stuck with me is esteemable people do esteemable
things.
And it's like...
Right.
And it's like when you have that choice to do something...
It's better than alcohol, man.
Yeah.
Yeah, and the funny thing is, if you're trying to stop drinking, you need
something better than alcohol.
And alcohol's pretty good.
Yeah.
So you better find something a lot better, man.
Yeah, and it is, and then esteemable people do esteemable things.
It's like, yeah, well, you want to figure out, you want to figure out something
that you're doing with your life that's worth not getting drunk and screwing up.
Yeah.
Right?
Because that's fun.
Yeah, you want to have something on the other side of that teeter-totter that
has some value to you.
You bet, you bet.
And so that you can think, no, no, I'm not going to get drunk and screw that up.
Right.
Because, you know, you might say, well, why do people drink too much?
It's like, if you like alcohol, that's a stupid question.
Yeah.
Right?
It's like, why do people drink too much?
Well, because it's great.
You know, it's like, okay, so why stop?
Well, you do stupid things when you're drunk.
You hurt yourself.
You compromise your health.
It's really hard on the people around you.
You tend to turn into a liar and it screws up your life.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, but it's pretty fun.
Yeah, well, it is.
But you need something better than that.
And what's better isn't being straight and not making mistakes.
It's like, that's all prohibition in some sense.
What's better is, no, you need an adventure, man.
You need to get out there and have something to do.
Yeah.
And something worth waking up for.
And you need, that's the substitute for the addiction.
Actually, the addiction is the substitute for that, if truth be known.
Right.
But eventually you can flip that around and you can find that, you know, the
much girthier
and more, there's a lot of sexy weight and having self-worth, you know, and
that's what I've
started to slowly find in my life.
Yeah, and you might also, like the thing too is, you know, I mean, there's
something kind
of, I don't know, the bar scene, the heavy drinking scene, there's something
kind of edgy
about it, you know, and something kind of adventurous about it.
And, you know, you see that it's kind of dramatized in people like Tom Waits,
who's got that real
hard edge, or Johnny Cash, or people, hard living guys, you know.
Oh yeah, guys with six or seven livers in them.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, well, there's something kind of romantic about that.
Yes.
And fair enough, you know, but, well, then what that means is you have to build
something
like that into your own life.
So maybe you need to go, maybe you need to, you know, take an adventurous trip
now and
then.
You've got to have something there that's edgy to replace that.
And sometimes if people need a catalyst, so there's that moment, right?
Like for me, the catalyst was like, you know, I needed to probably, I was
experimenting with
cocaine and I sacrificed like a neat job opportunity with that.
I had planned on being there for the job, and next thing you know, I'd spent
the night doing
cocaine.
Right.
And so I realized, okay, this is not, this is a little out of my control, so I
have to
make this.
But if people don't have that sort of...
I'm sure this must have happened when you decided to stop drinking.
You must have thought, this isn't good.
I'm not going to be funny anymore, I thought that.
Okay.
I thought there was going to be ramifications, yeah.
Okay, and so what were they?
What did you foresee happening?
I thought I wouldn't be funny.
I thought that people wouldn't like me.
I thought that I wouldn't be able to meet girls if I wasn't drinking or, you
know, or having
drugs or...
Right, so that was what you were afraid of giving up if you stopped drinking.
Right.
What were you afraid of happening if you kept drinking?
I was afraid of not achieving my dreams.
Right.
I was afraid of, you know, ending up a drug addict.
Yeah, so, okay.
I was afraid of dying in my sleep.
Something, you know, or dying under the influence.
Okay, so there, so there, yeah, it's not like that doesn't happen to comedians.
Right.
It happens a lot.
Yeah, it's one of our, dude, it's one of our go-to moves.
Well, right, exactly.
Well, it's not an occupational hazard because you're up late at night and you're
around
bars all the time.
It is, it is.
It is.
Because you're up late at night and you're partying.
Yeah, Chris Farley right here.
Right, right.
Happened to him.
Well, and it happened to all sorts of comedians and rock musicians.
It usually happens at about 27, you know, weirdly enough.
So, okay, so you were afraid you were afraid you're going to die or you're
afraid you're
going to become addicted.
So, let's say, what would have life been like for you if you were addicted?
So, you don't have a career anymore.
No.
Right, so you've given all that up and failed.
So, that's fun.
So, that's going to drive you even more towards drugs.
Yeah, it would have been all my dreams.
It would have been miserable.
Right, right.
It would have been hell.
Exactly.
So, why quit drinking?
So, I don't end up in hell.
Hey, there's a reason, there's a reason to stop.
And then if you make that hell real, it's like, here's all the details of my
personal hell.
Yes, let's avoid that.
Right.
So, then you have something to run the hell away from.
Right, so now you have something towards and something to run away from.
And I'll say this too, as you, if there's any young men or women out there who
are listening
to Jordan feeling like, well, I still, I don't know if, you know, if I start
doing something
different, like my friends are going to have to start.
Yeah, they are.
They are.
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
But you're also, you're going to start creating conversations.
You're going to become the intrigue.
Because you're going to be bringing something new to the table.
You're also going to find out who your friends are.
Yeah.
Because if you're starting to put your life together and you have friends that
object,
those are not friends.
Those are just people you know.
They're not friends because a friend is someone, this is one of the hallmarks
of a friend.
Here's two hallmarks.
A friend is someone you can tell bad news to and they won't tell you why you're
an idiot
and they won't interfere with your suffering.
They'll just listen.
They'll just listen and maybe they'll suffer along with you.
Okay.
So you can tell bad news to them and they won't tell you some worst thing that
happened to
them.
They'll listen and they'll suffer along with you.
But a friend is also someone you can tell good news to.
And the friend will say, wow, in this veil of tears, something good happened to
you.
Great, man.
Congrats.
I'm wonderful.
It's rare.
It's unlikely.
Good for you.
I hope 10 more things like that happen.
And they're not envious and they're not jealous and they're not one-upping you.
And if you're trying to get your life together, it's actually, if you're trying
to get your
life together and your friends get in the way, that's actually real useful for
you because
you've now identified who your friends aren't.
And you might think, well, I can't give them up.
It's like, oh, yes, you can.
And not only can you, you should, and it would be better for them.
Because if they're aiming down and they want you going down with them, there's
nothing
good about what's happening to them.
And there's certainly nothing good about that for you.
Yeah, they're not going to, and then they're going to learn, wow, if I, I'm
going to
lose friends if I continue in these directions.
Yeah.
Exactly, exactly.
Is it hard for, why is it hard for people to let go of what's so familiar with
to them,
even if it's bad?
Well, because it's complicated.
You know, and the thing, that's a really good question.
You discount the risk of familiarity that they're familiar with.
So like, let's say.
Because people are in relationships.
People are in relationships with the drugs and alcohol.
People are in relationships with humans.
People are in relationships with jobs.
People are in relationships with their own selves.
And they live, they're living a lie every single day, but it's familiarity.
Yeah, well, you say, I have a job I hate.
It's like, well, yeah, but I'm not dying from it.
It's like, not as bad as it can be.
So you kind of, you kind of, you factored in the risks already.
They get invisible.
You think, well, I can't jump out of this job because what about all the risk?
It's like, yeah, no kidding.
You got to make a, you got to get your resume in order.
You got to send it out.
You got to send 50 of the damn things out before anybody will call you back.
Then you have to go get interviewed and maybe you're not any good at that.
You have to come up with a story while you're a good employee and maybe, and
maybe you're
not yet.
So you have to figure out how to do that.
It's like, what about all these risks?
If I go look for a new job, it's like, yeah, absolutely, man.
Those are risks and they're harsh and no wonder you're avoiding them.
What about the risks for you to stay with this job you absolutely hate?
Well, let's think that through.
Okay.
So I have this dead end job.
I hate it.
I'm getting bitter.
Where am I going to be in five years?
I know where, because I've watched this with people.
You're going to be, you're going to be just like you are now, except a lot more
of what's
good about you is going to be gone.
And a lot more of what's terrible is going to be amplified.
And you're going to be like, in five years, you're going to be 10 years older
instead
of three years older.
Yeah.
Right.
Because it kills your spirit somehow.
Oh man.
Yeah.
So it's like, you think, oh my God, there's a terrible risk in pursuing this
new job.
It's like, yeah, there is a terrible risk.
There's a terrible risk in you staying with your job right now.
And so one of the things that's really freeing to understand is that you're
screwed no matter
what you do.
Ah.
There's no secure path forward.
Give it up.
It's risk everywhere.
You think, oh my God, that's terrible.
It's like, yes, except for two things.
You can pick your risk.
That's the first thing.
So you get to pick your poison.
That's something.
And second, you're a lot tougher than you think.
So even though there's risk everywhere, if you confront it forthrightly, what
you'll find
is that you can actually handle the risk.
And that's the security.
That's beautiful.
And there's so much growth to be had right there when you realize how much,
like there
were times I was like, man, I could never be a sober person because I'm afraid
of, you
know, I can't communicate with women or I'm afraid to, you know, stand around
in a circle
with tough guys without having like a beer in my hand, you know, or like all
these little
crutches, you know, I can't.
And then I remember when I got like 90 days sober, I was just like, holy shit,
man, like
it was like the first time I'd ever done something like for myself, you know,
and it just, man,
it felt, it felt unprecedented.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it was.
It felt like I'd gone to the moon.
How old were you when you started drinking?
I don't know, probably like 17 or 16, you know, kind of regular.
Yeah.
It was pretty basic and I never did a bunch of it, you know, but my biggest,
biggest thing was just emotional sobriety.
Like I was so drunk on my own insecurities and low self-worth.
Well, alcohol, alcohol really is a good drug for coping with anxiety.
That's why people use it.
So it does too, if you, if you really like alcohol, it does, it does two things
to you.
It makes you more extroverted and enthusiastic while you're on the ascending
limb of the blood
alcohol curve, wh