My reasons

My age would bring me lots of respect among my handball teammates because I am 26 and at that age I would not even need to show my ID when buying alcohol (I think I would have to cause I look so young ) I wrote “WOULD bring me lots of respect” cause it does not since I do not buy alcohol. I can but I do not? This fact caused lots of curiosity. “Why don´t you drink alcohol?” To answer that question when I know I have just short time to tell smth and I do not want to sound like lecturing is not that easy. What reason should I bring first to be able to continue talking and not to be interrupted? Or what reason would “hit the nail on the head” and would make some of those who drink only because of the group pressure understand that it is ok to be sober?

I have many reasons why I do not drink but the original one was that I wanted to reach smth in my life and I did not want to ruin it before I would “enter” the real life. Another reason was that I did not want to end up in an embarassing situation when my “friends” would laugh one day about my behaviour when I had been drunk. I did not want to embarass my parents who both were teachers in a small town were rumour just goes. And living like this, I realized at the age of 18 that I survived puberty without drinking, still having friends, enjoying life fully. Then I got to know EGTYF/Active that brought the additional good side of sobriety into my life. Not just individual reasons but social reasons – that I nowadays consider even stronger. Alcohols industy´s dirty games, children suffering, economical impact on society and – a LIE that alcohol brings into our lifes -  a short impression that a problem is solved or forgotten, that one is funny or social, that one is strong or brave. If alcohol is needed for that, then I doubt about each of those.

So yes – my reasons not to drink in short. But to answer that question in a brief face to face conversation, I just said - it is social reasons and on the top of everything I do not think it is neccessary. Surprisingly I had more time to explain and I felt I caused some thinking =)