The Party Girl 2 The “Boring” Girl…

When we’re young, it’s natural to crave a social life and want to be on the go all the time. We don’t want to miss out on parties or going out with our friends to the bar(s). Feeling included is something we long for and sometimes a top priority. We don’t want to watch what our friends did the night before on Snapchat. We want to actually be there and not have FOMO!

This is how it was for me when I was in my early to mid 20’s. I felt like the most important thing was to maintain a social status and be out all the time. Even if this meant the same neighborhood bar down the street with the same people who go weekly. I would go out drinking anywhere from two to four times a week (mostly at the same bars) and then I would regret my decision the next day when I felt horrible from a hangover. Sometimes the hangovers would include depression from feel embarrassed. I would be embarrassed from my actions or things that I said. It was a vicious cycle because I did this for years and never thought to cut back, even when I knew I should have.

Many of the people I socialized with then, I do not speak to now. They were just “drinking pals” when you didn’t want to drink alone. Sadly, I had mistaken a few of those people for actual friends, but it’s part of growing up and learning from your experiences. How else would you know if you didn’t make these mistakes?

Once I removed myself from the partying/bar scene, I feel like that’s when my life started to begin. I finally stopped drinking so much and almost cut alcohol out entirely. In the last year, I only drank about three times and in the last 730 days (or two years) I’ve consumed alcohol 10 times, give or take. I no longer waste my days being hungover or feeling sad about the decisions I made the night before. Most people haven’t seen me in years and it feels so empowering to know I was able to turn my life around and get out of an environment that was only bringing me down. No shade to anyone who likes to go out and drink every weekend, but that scene just wasn’t for me and I’m glad I was able to realize this early on before wasting more years of my life.

Now that I have so much of my time back, my priorities changed. I spend a lot of my time at home (when I’m not traveling) and this has caused others to now say I’m boring. I went from being the “party girl” to now being “boring” because I no longer go out to the bars. Maintaining a social life with people who only drink for fun just wasn’t something I wanted to engage in. Instead of wasting my time and money at local bars, I’m now able to save more, travel in my spare time, read more books, and write more content. This doesn’t include other hobbies or just spending time with my fur baby, Salem in the comfort of my home. If these things make me boring because I’m not going out drinking, then I’m fine with that. I enjoy this life so much more. Sometimes I’ll have people from the past randomly say shit like, “So you don’t black out like before? You’re too good to go out now?” It’s never from a good place and I try to block these people out when this is brought up. Misery loves company and I’m not going to feed into it.

All I’m saying is, life is way too short to spend it at some bar or partying every weekend. I’m glad I figured that out while still in my 20’s. Instead of dwelling on the time I lost, I’m trying to make up for it by constantly improving myself and getting out of my comfort zone. How else will I grow as a person? If I’m labeled a “boring” individual now, I just wanted to confirm IDGAF and that’s fine with me! Like I said before, I enjoy this life so much more! 🥳

Stay Safe. Stay Healthy.