Because both of them came from very strict backgrounds, neither one of them drank very much beyond the social drinking stage when they first started to date. As the time went by, then again, they began to go to more football bashes, keg parties, happy hours, and sorority and fraternity parties. As a result, they slowly but surely began to drink more the more they interacted with one another.

Their Social Life Frequently Consisted of Going to Restaurants Three or Four Nights Per Week, Going to Professional Sporting Events, Going to Parties With Their Friends, Going to Happy Hour With Their Friends, and Going With Their Friends to the Local Club on the Weekends

After they graduated, they both got jobs in a small city that was located around eighty miles from their undergraduate college. Then they finally made up their mind to move into the same apartment together.

Because they were far removed from the college drinking scene, however, their social life as a rule consisted of going to restaurants three or four nights per week, going to professional sporting events, going to parties with their friends, going to happy hour with their friends, and going to the local disco with their friends on the weekends. In a word, Merissa and Augie began drinking in an irresponsible and abusive manner.

Now that they were living in the same apartment with one another and beginning to get more unwavering about their relationship, however, they began thinking about buying a house, getting married, having children, and becoming more responsible.

With any significant modification in a person’s life there is typically something that triggers the specific change in question. For Merissa and Augie the notion of having children and buying a new house was this “trigger.” Simply put, for the first time in their lives, Merissa and Augie began to critically evaluate their irresponsible and abusive drinking and the long term effects of alcohol on their health.

How Would Their Hazardous and Irresponsible Drinking Affect Their Ability to Have Children, Their Mental Health, Their Relationship With One Another, Their Finances, and Their Relationship With Their Parents?

Would their hazardous and excessive drinking unfavorably affect their ability to have children? How would they be able to continue spending almost all of their money on drinking if they were to start saving for a new house? How responsible would they be if they had children and continued to drink in a hazardous manner? How would they be able to face their parents and tell them about their long term dreams, hopes, and aspirations while they still drank in an excessive and abusive manner while having fun as they did when they were in college? What would their drinking behavior do to their relationship? How would their irresponsible and hazardous drinking affect their mental health?

From a different perspective, although neither one of them ever suffered from alcohol poisoning, received a DUI, or experienced alcohol withdrawal symptoms, they realized that their hazardous drinking was becoming a problem that they could not ignore anymore.

After Giving Their Situation Considerable Deliberation, Augie and Merissa Finally Comprehended That Their Plans, Hopes, and Dreams Would not be Met if They Continued Their Hazardous Drinking

All of these uncertainties without a doubt indicated the same conclusion: Merissa and Augie needed to get a more complete picture of the fact that they couldn’t continue their heavy drinking if their hopes, dreams, and plans were to be reached.

Once they arrived at this conclusion, they notified their drinking buddies about their plans to start a family, about their marital plans, and about their goal of buying or building a new house. They also told their drinking buddies that they still wanted to pal around with them but that they would be drinking in strict moderation from this time forward so that they could start realizing their future aspirations, dreams, and goals.

Much to their wonder, all of their pals expressed relief because they too had been pondering the direction of their lives and concluded that their life-styles were too centered around drinking. They also thought that they would have to change drastically if they were to become more mature and show more thoughtfulness for their health, their careers, and for their plans in the next ten or fifteen years.

After their candid chat with their pals about their dreams, hopes, and aspirations, Augie and Merissa actually started to have more meaningful relationships with all of their buddies. The fundamental reason for this was the fact that all of them had a similar mindset regarding their hazardous and excessive drinking and their relatively short and long-term aspirations, plans, and goals.