Inhibitions

By Matt Gurney

Which teenager hasn�t heard the argument of �Alcohol isn�t bad, it just let�s you let go of your inhibitions and have a good time,�? Who hasn�t heard the argument that drugs aren�t bad because it lets people act out more freely? These theories are a part of growing up, I suppose, but when I hear people say thing like this, there�s only one thing I wanted to ask them.

When did having inhibitions become a bad thing?

I, like any seventeen year old, like to have a good time. I like to be able to skip a class in order to spend time with friends. I like to stay out late, having a good time. I like being able to laugh and joke with my peers.

But why must the inhibitions come down before that can happen?

I have always stuck to my beliefs. I�ve clung to them fiercely, because at the end of the day, my beliefs are all that I really know to be true. People lie, situations change, but my beliefs don�t.

It hasn�t been easy. After a bad day, there�s temptation to allow alcohol to dull the pain. When something goes wrong in my life, it�s tempting to simply ask one of the guys at school for some marijuana, so that I can forget my troubles for only a few bucks. When I feel lonely, it�s understandable to want to feel close to someone else, even if that closeness is only physical.

But that�s not what I�m about. I don�t hide from my problems � I solve them, or at the very least face them. I have never turned to drugs of any kind to make things a bit easier. I have never been drunk, so that I might have a good time, damn the consequences. Sure, I�ve consumed alcohol, but I always draw the line before I become even �tipsy�. Because it�s that line who makes me who I am.

Inhibitions exist for a reason. They exist to keep us clean. They exist to remind us that what is easy should always take a backseat to what is right. It�s never easy to go against your conscience. So instead of using a chemical to make it easy, I just don�t do it.

It�s a hard life, always trying to do the right thing, no matter how painful it might be. It�s a frustrating life, seeing those you care about the most cheating their own consciences. It�s also an indescribably lonely life, knowing that the only person you can count on to do the right thing is yourself.

But it�s the only life I could ever imagine living. It�s the only life I ever would want to live. I weep for the fact that I have to live it alone, but I�d rather be alone and myself than be surrounded by people and someone else.

My conscience is who I am. I am not an overly religious person; I do not belong to any church. But I know that some things are right and some things are wrong � no exceptions! I don�t know what instilled that knowledge in me, whether it be God or my parents or society, but I know that I am helpless before my own convictions. If I dare violate them, no matter what the temptation, I�ll have to pay a price for it - the price of shame and humiliation.

Saying that something �Takes away your inhibitions� is the same thing as saying �It allows you to cheat your own conscience.� If something doesn�t feel right, don�t drink to make it right, accept that it�s wrong and take solace from the fact that you�re doing what�s best, for you. Don�t do it for friends or religion, do it for yourself.

I couldn't have said it better. I feel the same way.

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"Huh. An intelligent guard. I never would have guessed."
-Preed, Titan A.E.

And, as far as inhibitions go... What do you think it was that got you people here today? If your great-great-caveman-grandparent hadn't had inhibitions, he would have attacked that cave bear on his own in a heated frenzy and been torn to shreds, and you never would have existed. If you didn't have inhibitions, you'd wonder what it was like to fly and you'd jump off the nearest rooftop, spread your arms, flap a few times, and get hosed off the sidewalk a couple hours later. Those inhibitions are there for a reason. Getting rid of them is like saying "I think I'll turn my brain off for a little while and let my body do what it wants. Hopefully it won't kill itself before I get back...".

Believe me, people, if you can't get over your problems w/o numbing your mind for a while, you definitely need some sort of professional help...

Have we finished patting each other on the back yet?

Jeez, some of you have got your head's so far up your arses that you can see what you had for lunch.

If you don't want to participate in it, don't. We're not making you take the stuff. However for anyone to come into a fora and deride one life view whilst pontificating another shows not only a potential ignorance of the substances involved, but a total disregard for the views and attitudes of what you will find is the majority of people.

Keep in mind, if you know anything about the substances invloved and have any common sense you won't waste yourself. But then, since the members of the opposing side have not experienced the aforementioned social lubricants, you can't know the realities of their effects and would therefore have no idea what you are talking about.

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"Remeber, if there is a nuclear explosion, be sure to close your windows as the massive heat could cause objects within your home to catch fire".

Wise, wise words.

Are you sure? In the other thread, I think that's exactly what Liam was saying.

And the shrink thing is a bit of a joke. But what I was getting at is that maybe if the US learned to unwind a bit (by alcohol or not), then it wouldn't have so many stressed out people wanting to kill every time someone sneezes.

Although, as Lee pointed out, there really isn't anywhere like that in the US. Bars seem to be treated as seedy places, where only the sad, lonely and pathetic visit. Whereas in this country, pubs are the main gathering point of most people, whether using it as a place to hang out with their friends, or using it as a launching pad for a night-out, or just a place to go and get out of the house from.

In Friends and Frasier, they go to a coffee house.
In Men Behaving Badly, Only Fools and Horses, and pretty much any other contempary UK sit-com, they go to the pub.

I think this gets back to Tim's point above. If you are not in control of yourself, or don't have a proper grip on reality, you are putting yourself at risk.