Not many people realize the huge risk that they take when they consume alcohol and then climb behind the wheel of a car or other motor vehicle. When I was a police officer, I used to pull people over all of the time for driving while intoxicated. I used to be naive before my police officer days, thinking that drinking and driving was something that young kids who just turned 21 years of age did. I was surely mistaken after the first ten or so people that I pulled over turned out to be older- significantly older.

Suddenly I found myself transporting peoples parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters to jail; and it was all because they had simply allowed themselves to have way too much to drink. What drives us to drink alcoholic beverages then? Surely it can't be because of the flavor or because of the price tag! If you add up how much it costs to consume a 6-pack of beer and then multiply that by maybe two or three packs of beer per week, suddenly you can figure out where all of your money is going at the end of the month.

There are also people who feel the need to go out to social engagements, but who also feel that they cannot effectively interact with other people unless they have had " a little something to drink" or " a little something to ease the nerves". The same thing applies when it comes to dancing in front of other people at social engagements such as clubs, parties or weddings. We feel too embarrassed, etc.

At the heart of the issue with most people who consume alcohol is a fear. There seems to be a deep-seated fear that somehow we will be found out- that somehow others will suspect that we aren't all we are cracked up to be. We try too hard to keep up a facade of the type of person we think others will like. We never stop to think that someone may still like us even after he or she has discovered that we really don't know how to dance or after they see that we sometimes get nervous when we have to meet new people. This feeling of being accepted and appreciated is so strong in some of us that the only recourse that we feel is available is through the way of alcohol. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

For other people who drink alcohol, the issues are much more severe and run deeper. For some of us, we don't deal with stressful situations or feelings very well. For instance, many people drink alcohol as a means of trying to block out or forget memories that are painful to them. For example, a young woman may drink alcohol to excess in an effort to forget about physical abuse she may have suffered in the past. Another person may consume alcohol because they are stressed out over a bad breakup, divorce or a strained relationship that they have with another loved one.

One thing is for sure in all of this; drinking alcohol does not solve problems, and it will not make things better. In fact, once a person becomes consumed by alcohol, it only makes things worse for them as well as for those around them. Figure out different ways to approach your problems- ways that are healthier and more constructive rather than destructive. Think twice before you climb behind the wheel of any vehicle, and make sure that you keep an eye out for those you call friends so that you can prevent them from doing something that they may very well ultimately regret.