Why do what you will regret? Why bring tears upon yourself? Do only what you do not regret, and fill yourself with joy.
-Buddha

I got my grades for my class today. I got an A. I was so excited. I was worried towards the end as the professor graded my papers and exams because I had 82.5 out of 100 points and the last thing to graded was worth 10 points. But I got 8.5 on that project. I was so excited. And again, my thoughts were to celebrate with a beer. I kept thinking “how can I celebrate this? I already got a facial today. I don’t need a pedicure. I want a real treat!” I settled for a peach green tea from Starbucks. It still doesn’t feel like a real treat.

Then I read that quote. That quote reminded me why I should not drink. I will regret it. The guilt. The hangover. The wasted money. The backtracking on all my accomplishments the past few months.

I just hope I don’t go through this “let’s get drunk and celebrate” battle everytime I finish a class.

Mistake 168-I have an old friend, V, that I got in a huge fight with that ended our friendship for years. When we finally started to talk again, we agreed to go on a roadtrip together. We thought this would be a good bonding moment. We drove to a city 4 hours away. There was a war protest going on but we actually wanted to go see a band performing at the protest. The band wouldn’t go on until midnight. So we decided to have dinner first. Then we met up with a gay friend of mine visiting from another city. V and I joined him at a gay bar after dinner. I started drinking heavily at dinner, of course. Then I got so drunk at the gay bar, I forgot about the band we came to see. My gay friend met some guy and left us at the bar. V was not familiar with this city. She said she had trouble trying to get me in a cab. She was mad that my gay friend did not stick around to help her. But I was the irresponsible one that got trashed beyond ability to walk.

Thankfully V and I are still good friends and she is one of my sober supporters. Maybe enough nights of babysitting me makes her a good supporter.