by Harry White, Gold Coast, Australia
My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for.
There is a saying that, “The best nights are the ones that you don’t remember”. Well I have had one of those nights before, and if I didn’t remember it, my body certainly made sure that I did with the constant vomiting, headaches, stomach cramps and un-easiness.
Are those big party nights really worth it?
I mean, alcohol is expensive and it makes you do things that you will regret doing, like:
– taking drugs, trying cigarettes,
– lowering your standards and ‘hooking up’ with complete strangers, and
– engaging in behaviours and doing things which are dangerous to yourself and others.
It takes you away from your-self, it gives you a hangover, dulls your senses, kills brain cells and causes undeniable damage to your heart and liver.
As a seventeen year-old young man there is an enormous pressure to go to parties, get wasted and ‘have a good time’ with your mates. I felt this pressure from my school peers and let myself succumb to it. I guess I attended the party to be seen as ‘cool’ and to be accepted by my peer group. I had no interest in drinking alcohol so I played the game of “I’m the designated driver”, but never expressed my true feelings of “No, I don’t want to drink alcohol” from fear of not being accepted. This fear of rejection would get me every time.
More recently I have felt this pressure from friends who ask me if I “want to go out”, meaning go out to pubs or nightclubs and get ‘plastered’. As a young musician, I have played in many pubs and clubs and have experienced first hand what this ‘getting plastered’ may be like; I know I would not like it at all. From behind the drum set I have observed many troublesome things, which have confirmed my feeling that I absolutely do not EVER want to dull and numb myself so much. The thought of being in such a state brings horror to my body and it almost makes me sick.
Now that I have realised that it IS okay and should be considered the ’norm’ to be self-loving and express your true feelings, I have been shining within myself and allowing that shine to emanate outwardly. It is so rewarding to honour your body and your feelings and let them guide the way you live and the choices that you make.
So what IS my kind of Friday night?
My kind of Friday night is one where I can cook dinner with my family and be in their company.
My kind of Friday night is one where I can wind-down with a cup of chamomile tea and be in bed by nine.
One where I can joke around with my sister.
One where I can have a laugh with my Dad about our day.
One where I can give my Mum a foot massage after a big day at work.
Where I can draw some pictures or write about my day.
In my kind of Friday night I can dance joyfully to music without being intoxicated.
My kind of Friday night is one that my body loves me for, because I choose to love it.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Yes, why is it always those who are drinking who try and persuade another to have a drink, to two; this all starts from an early age.
It’s like we do feel some things are not really ok, but we push on through with that choice to turn the volume up so that we cannot hear ourselves any more. We are already feeling the after effect of our choices, we know what’s going to come.
Powerful message Harry.
“In my kind of Friday night I can dance joyfully to music without being intoxicated.”
Of course, so should this be our normal. There is no flood that needs explaining this fact. The more we allow and accept love , the more we will bring.
This is such a great point you raise here Harrison, that regardless of what our minds can remember or tell us or not our body will always reflect the truth of impact of our choices and the degree of harm we cause to ourselves. It is crazy that we have normalised self-abuse to be something that we champion and that getting drunk is even considered to be a form of ‘initiation’ into adulthood. I experienced this when I was young and in my adult life, but never did it offer a deepening of me living with power. I question the purpose of it all as where is the honouring of the being and empowerment in this?
Well said Carola, it is like getting drunk in your teens is seen like a ‘rite of passage’ – and yet it is a passage to the ‘dark side’ where we learn to not look after ourselves and how to set a role model that will inspire others to take the ‘dark side’ too – by ‘dark side’ I am here talking about when a person does not appreciate the amazing qualities they naturally bring and hence they deny them or worse yet depreciate themselves rather than shining as a light, brightly so, in a society that sorely needs the inspiration to appreciate and look after ourselves and step into our true power.
There have been a few articles in the press recently reporting that young people are not drinking
The research, published in the journal BMC Public Health, found more than 25% of young people classed themselves as “non-drinkers”.
University College London’s researchers said the norms around drinking appeared to be changing.
They studied data from the annual health survey for England and found the proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who do not drink alcohol had increased from 18% in 2005 to 29% in 2015.
It will be interesting to see over the years if this trend increases.
The best nights are those in which you surrender your body to the energy of repose.
That feels like a great choice.
There is dancing without alcohol, and it is a glorious thing to experience.
Freedom in movement… true celebration and so much more.
Yeah! I love this celebration of how you choose to live and how joyful and loving it is, this article reads with a real commitment to life and an appreciation for yourself and those around you and at the time of writing this you are 17 years old. This is inspiring and you are an absolute trail blazer..
Gorgeous and what a great example of how our Friday night can be — in absolute joy and connection. Were alcohol would be the disturber of this greater joy. Love that Harry.
Your sweetness is far too gorgeous to bludgeon with alcohol. It takes a lot of courage to choose what we really want in life as we are faced with the majority who have accepted the sell out as the way life is and even the way life should be.
The thought of a Friday night staying in at home, without ‘doing’ something would have once filled me with dread and I would have considered it so weird – why stay at home when there’s so much fun to be had, so many places I can go to, people I can socialise with? But even then I knew deep down that all of this relentless activity and need to ‘do’ something like throw a dinner party or go dancing was a distraction and something I was using to not feel an emptiness underneath that – or as a reward at the end of a draining week, something to jazz my life up with. What I feel now is an ever-growing sense of steadiness, stillness and consistency with how I am with myself and in my life, and ever-deepening relationships with everyone in my life. There’s no need to fill it with endless stuff because I feel more and more connected to that solid knowing of who I am, and the deep contentment of feeling that that in itself is more than enough – no need to look outside for things to compensate for not feeling that, or try to recreate it in other ways. The things that I do are now more of an extension, an expression, of what I’m already feeling – instead of a substitution for it.
Im loving that a young man such as you Harrison, is loving a Friday night where you enjoy being in the company of those you love, with a cup of Chamomile tea and being in bed by nine, because you so deeply appreciate and honour your body and how you treat it and what you do, will support you to be even more of who you are the following day. This is deeply inspiring.
Partying in a way that smashes the body is so pervasive. I recently observed an alcohol fuelled party that began in the morning and went til late at night, about 12 hours, then the house was completely dead for two days as that is how long the recovery took – to me that is not worth it. True celebration and fun doesn’t have to involve self harm, and we do not have to succumb to what society is doing especially if it’s not common sense.
I love it! In fact that is the way to live every day: in a way that we can build on the loving behaviors from the previous day and deepen our awareness and our love.
I love all the things you do on a Friday night and definitely things that have you wake up fresh and regenerated on Saturday morning ready to enjoy a fulsome weekend.
Having wasted many a brain cell via alcohol abuse into my late 30’s, it is a joyous thing forme to read Harrison’s take on resisting the social pressures to fit in and drink alcohol to ‘have fun’. It sure wasn’t fun for me to get hangovers so bad I wanted to just die, vomit multiple times, crash my new Volkswagen Jetta and lie to my wife about not drinking anymore as I continued to hide it and jeopardize my marriage. Way to go Harrison. You are leading the way for your peers as I am now for mine.
Thank you Michael for your honest sharing here, it exposes the veneer of alcohol as a socially acceptable fun thing, when it’s actually a very dangerous and addictive toxic drug.
My kind of Friday night is taking full account of my body – getting to bed early, celebrating the week by expressing how awesome I was and nominating any concerns, and eating a nurturing meal. It’s actually no different really to every other night.
I feel so blessed that my Friday nights are like yours Harrison, it’s a choice that has enriched my life in many ways.
Very beautiful Harry, to feel your appreciation for you and your way and the deep care you bring to you and others is very inspiring.
Those nights you cannot remember are not easy to forget.
Ha, I love it, so very true, and it shows how very much we fool ourselves.
“My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for” – so simple and so wise, and really exposes the silliness of spending Friday night or any other day or any moment or life as whole without a sense of responsibility and awareness.
The need to dull the body and or get away from life or oneself by altering one´s state of being to feel ‘better’ already comes from being estranged from oneself to a certain degree and hence won´t give much space for wanting to honour one´s body, one´s sensitivity and true needs for intimacy, love, acceptance etc. To make that choice, to turn towards oneself instead of trying to get away deserves to be deeply appreciated.
It pays big to say no to peer pressure and instead choose what we know is our truth.
It’s a beautiful comment Harry and applicable for many situations across every stage of life.
When we complete our day in appreciation of what we have learned and grown from it prepares us so much more lovingly for the coming day.
“It is so rewarding to honour your body and your feelings and let them guide the way you live and the choices that you make.” A lesson offered lovingly by our body but not part of the formal education syllabus.
Harry, I love what you are sharing here. It brings such a true quality to having a good time where enjoying each other and oneself is truly felt and not only in that moment but the next morning too, as it does not involve smashing our bodies nor getting ourselves emotionally wired.
‘My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for.’..now what a fabulous slogan. So simple, so perfectly on pointe. This is billboard worthy. Why do we not have campaigns running that support us rather than encourage us to completely annihilate ourselves.
Yes, this makes a very cool slogan, bringing self-love and care back to our lives.
That kind of Friday night, without alcohol and drugs and being part of a supportive daily rhythm, makes sense and honours the body that is after all, always with us.
‘It is so rewarding to honour your body and your feelings and let them guide the way you live and the choices that you make.’ – golden words of wisdom Harry. There is no substitute for just how fulfilling and enriching it feels and is to live in connection to our body and being, as at this point we are at one with everything that we are and in this space there is absolutely nothing else that is needed.
Very gorgeous Harry. The world needs more young people to reflect the love, truth, joy and wisdom we all can feel when reading your words. For if not, we all end up in the same self-destructive soup of existence with no one sober left to pull us out and show us by virtue of their living way that there is another way to be in a world that is not yet set up to support such expression.
Friday Nights, or nights spent in appreciation of the day passed, best give us a restful sleep a renewed love on being awake.
Harry your Friday night sounds great to me, and most of all you will remember it all, as will your family for enjoying quality time spent together.
Your kind of Friday night is my kind of Friday night. One where I wake Saturday in appreciation of my Friday night.
For how we close the day determines not only the quality with which we sleep, but also the quality with which we awake to start it all again. This is the cycle of life we are bound to until we arise back to a way of living that is not lived at great expense to the body and being within it.
This is incredibly sweet, to read about a young man who finds the strength to remain true to himself, and how that self that you have remained true to is so naturally loving.
It is so rewarding to honour your body and feelings, and yes, I agree, ‘My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for.’ I love your Friday nights Harry.
What you share Harry is very inspiring and especially considering your age when pressure from peers can be quite intense. A very beautiful way to spend Friday night.
‘My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for’. I don’t feel like I need to read much further than the first line because it’s so powerful all on it’s own. I love the idea of applying this attitude to every single Night/Day.
I have come to love Friday nights, because of the spaciousness and having no attachments to the next day – imagine bringing this during the week, the body would be truly rested and ready for its next day.
Your Friday night is very loving Harry – I am with you on that. My Friday night is all about holding the quality that I wake up to the next day.
The normalisation of alcohol has been a major damage to our society, the way we relate and consider socialising as well as family situations. The fact is alcohol is not only an un-natural substance for the body it is energetically numbing every part of us when we drink, and is shutting us down. The harm is well beyond physical, it is shutting out those around us and allowing us to accept lesser versions of love, which is a tragedy.
I agree, Harrison, alcohol has been so ‘normalized’ in our society today and is not seen for the poison it is, neither for the huge effects is has on so many levels.
I just love the simplicity of it all – choose a way of living that we would look back later and thank ourselves for.
The first line says it all Harry, ‘my kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for’. If our body knows what’s good for us, shouldn’t this be the answer to our actions?
Your kind of Friday night is my kind of Friday night. Your words and insights on life are inspirational.
I love this Harry. A joyful re-claiming of yourself.
I have found that living like this every day with my wife and family means that there also is not that same desire for holidays as there was in the past. Sure we need our rest days but certainly not to escape from life as we used to.
Yes, how would the world change if we all chose to self-care rather than self-abuse, would it signify the beginning of the end of the abuse of others, and of feeling abused in work relationships and home life? Would it begin the steps towards true relationship and true community, because once we start to hold ourselves in the respect and love that we deserve, we can’t but naturally hold others equally in that same respect and love.
Absolutely agree Harry, we purposely underrate the ongoing effects that the evenings drinking session will have over the next several days, compounded by the attraction to repeating it to not feel the awfulness the body is already experiencing from the previous session. This would be termed insanity or crazy behaviour if we were to observe and study an animal species conducting itself in this way – so where are we that we don’t apply the same observation to ourselves and take steps to truly understand what is going on.
It is absolutely crazy that we need to have an excuse (as I always did use back in the day) that I’m the ‘designated driver’ as that was the only valid reason to not drink ourselves silly at parties. What kind of consciousness holds sway over all of us, that we can’t freely say ‘I don’t drink alcohol’ without getting some kind of reaction back at us.
Harry, I’ve seen you play the drums and I have seen you hang around in other situations, and I can honestly say I have never seen someone drinking have a better time than you on even one occasion. You are living proof that people are more fun, more real, more joyfully committed to life when they are sober.
Your Friday night now, means you are ready for Saturday and when people meet you on that Saturday, that get to see the gorgeous man that you truly are. When they would have met the hungover man on the Saturday, they would have got much less. For me that shows how we use alcohol to hide ourselves away from the world. To not bring all of us to life.
Imagine if we lived with care, fun, and prepared our body every night giving it the rest and regeneration it needs, we would be a truly different society.
There are so many sayings like the one you shared: “The best nights are the ones that you don’t remember” that are easily ‘copied’ when we are growing up without feeling if they are true or not. Like do we really like the nights that we don’t remember most?? It just does not make sense and as you say, after a big night out I would always feel horrible the next day it actually it was never worth it. I now also opt for a lovely night at home doing things I love.
You are absolutely correct Lieke, we are surrounded by so many sayings and familiar ways of doing things it can be hard to know the truth, let alone live it in full, if everyone else we know isn’t.
Every moment we say ‘No’ to abuse (to ourselves) we say ‘Yes’ to love and it is in those moments of comfort where the abuse is regarded as the norm I have to watch myself and make self-loving choices.
Harry you are a beautiful inspiration and support for all men young and old, it was a joy to read your blog.
Yes, Harry is a beautiful inspiration for us all.
Harry you are an absolute inspiration.
WOW!!! Thank you Harry, for being you. I realise this is a few years ago now, but my god! you were 17 and as clear as clear can be. What an absolute breath of fresh air!! I’m blown away!
‘My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for.’ And not only Saturday will thank you but we all will, but most of it your body and soul will thank you for choosing what is true and amazingly joyful.
“My kind of Friday night is one where I can wind-down with a cup of chamomile tea and be in bed by nine.” I love these Friday nights too, it is such honouring and loving to just be with self by creating that nurturing space for the body to unwind and surrender and truly rest.
Its nuts to think that getting wasted is ‘having a good time’ I remember those nights when I drank so much that I could not remember any of the night and how I even got home……and I used to call that a great night!!!! And then need to recover all of the next day because I had a whopping headache and hangover from poisoning myself with so much alcohol….yes, I much prefer my evenings spent at home with friends cooking a meal together these days.
Harry greatly inspired with your blog, I love your Friday nights they feel amazing. I absolutely agree Friday nights with family and friends without alcohol is more loving and joyful. Why would we want to put ourselves through intoxicating drinks and feel awful the next day?
There’s always consequences for every action. Such simple wisdom that makes sense all round, yet I didn’t consider it as a possibility for the most part of my life – it really makes me question what had got into me.
Your Friday night is music to my soul Harry and one that is not to different from my own Friday night. Living and loving ourselves brings such joy and simplicity to our lives and leaves us feeling vital and rich. A great way to spend our days and nights. Thank you Harry.
So beautiful Harry, I am deeply inspired by your will and love for yourself. I did succumb to peer pressure when I was your age, it always made me feel awful, enjoining with everyone, not listening to myself, what I truly wanted to do. Instead I got wasted, very drunk and as you call out, would do things whilst drunk that I was not proud or felt very self honouring. So bravo to you, it is amazing what you are sharing here and the awesome reflection you are emanating to many others.
“My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for” – such a great way of summing it up, living life with consideration of how we will feel the next day. It can be all to easy to ‘live in the moment’ or as though you only live once, but in truth all we are doing is being irresponsible and not considering that all our actions have consequences, from what we eat, when we go to bed and what we drink, even what we watch, who we spend time with and how we express all adds up to how we will feel the next day.
So true thanks for sharing. There is living in the moment which can be in a true sense but what I feel you have shared is that we can also allow ourselves to get caught up in a rush of excitement or energy and do something we normally wouldn’t do and call it living in the moment – but turns out to be lacking responsibility.
I agree – true presences in the moment is in consideration of the whole – the whole of the body and therefor the responsibility we have in life. If I chose something in this moment now, it doesn’t stay in this moment but travels with me into the next, and the next. If I choose to take drugs, check out watching a movie, drink, get angry at someone, I cannot just walk away from those moments and leave those choices behind, they will come into the next moment and effect it whether we notice it or not. I guess true presence could be seen as a consideration of this and the integrity to chose wisely and responsibly in every moment, so as to carry it on into the next.
Wow yes this is so true, and whether we notice it or not this is how we get stuck into detrimental patterns, we didn’t first take notice of the effects of what we were doing. And it works both ways, the love and quality of presence we build in one moment can help us in the next.
What a gift you are giving yourself at such a young age – congratulations! To start doing what YOU want to do and not bowing to peer pressure, is a worthy stand. And to start to honour your body and build a relationship with it that is not filled with ups and downs, is one that will stand you in good stead.
This is a great blog Harry, to have this sort of clarity at such a young age will hold you in good stead for the remainder of your life. As well you are a true role model for the younger generation, this is so needed as there is so much pressure to drink and party,
True self love is the new cool, and it certainly is a lot more energising and sustaining choosing behaviours and things for our body which are loving and supporting which creates a rhythm we can depend on and shine the way we naturally do out in the world.
Very very beautiful Harrison, the idea that we can do something now and not pay for it later is such an arrogance we can all have, I know I’ve been there, and it’s not worth it. I love how you describe your Friday night and the words that come up when I read it are love and connection.
Extraordinary … A young man at 17yrs who dances to the beat of his own drum. Introducing a new beat amongst the pressures of the teenage pub partying scene… Pretty awesome Harry!
I love your list of alternate Friday nights to one of excessive drinking… there is no doubt that honouring you and your body… and allowing what you feel to guide you through life should be the norm compared to the former, which without a doubt does not allow you to shine.
This sure breaks a belief! When I used to have Friday nights like that it was as though I wanted to believe they were fun. There were parts I enjoyed but nothing in me loved them.
So essentially we pay to get sick! That’s what we do when we are getting “plastered”. It sounds like you are one of the few Harry who are actually living common sense!
Great way of expressing what we do when we decide to drink “we pay to get sick”!! No common sense here
What is normal for teenagers is actually not normal at all but very harming and we don’t want to feel the devastation we feel as parents/adults but don’t want to feel because we did the same when we were young. I love how you present a true normal Friday evening, enjoying you and your family honouring your body and not falling for the pressure put on you by your peers.
It is true, the party’s aren’t truly fun. And far from self loving. It is our choice to do it differently showing everyone another way.
I love your opening sentence Harry, “My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for.”, it encapsulates the care and deep respect we all deserve.
Very awesome Harry, so inspiring and I am with you. It is such a huge consciousness and force to break free from as this is a culture that exists in our society and is considered as ‘normal’, which calls to us to identify with so that we fit in. I too have succumbed to following the party trail, only to find that my body was left regularly screaming with pain and unease from the abuse the following days after. In the end I could not feel the worth of persisting with it and now love listening to and honoring my body. I enjoy waking up in the morning feeling refreshed an ready to live another day and now would never compromise this for anything, as then I would feel like I was missing out on something great – living in connection with me and sharing this with the world.
Awesome to have wrote this as 17 year old young man. Now I look back and reflect on my choices, they were truly loving at that time and now I get the benefits everyday from choosing to look within rather than seek to be recognised by the outer, which is done a lot through peer pressure and drinking.
Harry you are leading the way for all of us. Laying down a foundation for when we come back again – as we all will do – where getting wasted is no longer accepted as ‘normal’ and where a young person choosing to live self-lovingly and simply is appreciated and recognised as being the incredible reflection they are.
Awesome Harry, you are an inspirational young man. It is amazing what you are sharing, showing our young adults what it feels and looks like to love, care and honour ourselves, our body and our choices. The fear of rejection is huge for many of us but when we accept what is possible and not follow the trend of being ‘plastered’ but show others another way. You are hugely supportive for people around you, as they can see how comfortable you are in your own skin, in being you and in choosing not to drink because you care for your body and your health. Our society definitely can do with more and more inspiring young men like you Harry.
“As a seventeen year-old young man there is an enormous pressure to go to parties, get wasted and ‘have a good time’ with your mates”. I can now feel that for me, this is not group pressure as you have shared Harry but an underlying feeling of not being enough or feeling that I was empty of something.
Beautiful Harry, beautiful because you have looked out from a knowing of who you are and how precious your body is and with that have said no to anything that would harm it. What a powerful loving reflection you are to all your friends, family, workmates or strangers that meet you.
Your Friday night sounds like a great night to me too Harry. I went to many parties when I was young but never felt the urge to drink or take drugs. Its funny when I look back because everyone at that time thought I was weird for not drinking, but it felt completely natural for me. Following our own feeling and connection to our bodies is a great way for us to get to know what works and what doesn’t work for the loving care of ourselves. Thank you Harry truly inspiring.
“My kind of Friday night is one that Saturday will thank me for.” What an awesome statment, what an awesome blog. Thank you Harry for daring to be different. Like Michael Brown says above me it is so refreshing to hear from a young man who dares to follow his heart rather than succumb to the peer pressure of modern day life.
Hear, hear Samantha, I absolutely agree. What an inspiring blog and inspiring young man Harry is. The ripple effects of Harry’s loving choices will no doubt be felt by many. Showing us what is possible and how we can be deep in the thick of these pressures from our peers and society and not get sucked into the drinking culture and the disregarding ways.
What a refreshing account from a young man who has simply said “that’s not for me”
Breaking down the stereo-type of ‘being one of the boys’ and thus being seen to be drunk as a good thing, is something that has a cultural tradition that is not just inclusive of alcohol. Many ‘manning-up’ type traditions are taking us away from deeply connecting to the tender loving men we all are. For example when I was young I was told to ‘toughen up and become a man’ or ‘you are the man of the house’, so in some way this meant that I would be different to the tender young boy. I have found being tender and owning up to being a fragile and sensitive man is connecting me to the man that every man is looking for. Many thanks Harry and Serge Benhayon for bringing this opportunity for me to deepen, and this is just a part of my forever unfolding relationship with myself.
Love your Friday night Harry , so beautiful to hear someone so young, speak and live with so much wisdom. A powerful reflection you bring to all ages, thank you .
It should be the norm to be self loving and self Nurturing, we should never let any ideal or belief get in the way of our innermost truth, if we do we can see how that will effect us in our body and from there its a process of recovering and nominating one by one the steps we have chosen to not walk in who we truly are.
Wow Harry you are such an inspirational young man wise beyond your years one could say but we all know wisdom has nothing to do with age.
I love your Friday nights and it would be amazing if more young people would celebrate them like you do. It is wonderful Harry that you are a role model for your mates as normally they do not have someone showing them that there is another way of spending their Friday nights.
Harry, you are an inspiration to all young men. There is a lot of pressure for men around the drinking culture, getting wasted and taking drugs. Its great for men to have solid role models like you, to reflect that we don’t need to abuse our bodies to have a good time and that we don’t need to bow down to peer pressure, instead we can live from within and shine for all to see.
Friday nights have this huge expectation and requirement to reward us for our working week. Like we’ve worked hard – now we party hard. Next day we do nat have any responsibility so what should hold us back – we are free…. But. Your blog Harry makes it quite simple clear that there is responsibility all of the time – and even if my mind does not remember what I’ve done – my body does. And it calls me for responsibility.
For me it seams like the cycle of feeling not amazing in me and my day, but keeping up with this and so deserved a reward, which again does make me feel bad (to be honest) is like we are in a hamster wheel. We run and run but do not get anywhere. To step out of the wheel and see – I do not have to do this and… to become aware: I am not even a hamster, is very much freeing us. Thank God for young people like you Harry who step out of the wheel and show us another, lovingly way. Every day.
Gosh Harry, this line brought me to tears: “My kind of Friday night is one that my body loves me for, because I choose to love it.” Choose love and it loves you back. So simple. So true. So lovely.
thanks Harry this… And I am guessing, correct me if I’m wrong ☺ but my feeling is that every night is like this for you, because if you are choosing love in the way that you write about, this will be without a doubt reflecting in your everyday life.
Its great to read of a young man making the choices he wants to make, so often we conform to the behaviour of others, and not just as teens, though it is seen and felt strongly at that age. I saw a group of girls at the bus stop yesterday and they all had their hair done in exactly the same way, and I wonder if this is what they really feel or just a look to conform. It is always so much more interesting when we don’t conform and do what we really feel we want to do. In the case of alcohol, I know myself that I didn’t want to drink as a teen but eventually succumbed for all the wrong reasons which makes reading your true choice Harry a joy to read.
So true Stephen, Harry’s choice is a great sharing of how we all hold the reins to our own destiny by having free will! As you have shared, I also succumbed to peer pressure with both drugs and alcohol. In fact even after I knew how I was affected by alcohol I still gave into the pressure of it being normal to drink to make everyone else feel at ease, which I felt would be a benefit to me but of course, it had the opposite effect. That is, it did not feel true in my body and therefore no one got to feel the true me!
“My kind of Friday night is one that my body loves me for, because I choose to love it.” Love your kind of Friday night Harrison – mine too! A few years ago when I stopped having alcohol in my house someone said to me – ‘do you mean we can’t have any fun?’ I responded we can have fun without any alcohol – and we did – and still do….
Wow Harrison, this is pretty awesome because how many people can claim and be at ease with expressing how they feel regardless of the pressure around them? To see past all the ‘soical’ reasons for being together and actually choose to build a relationship with the body that is supportive of the relationships with others. And for a young guy to share what you have is huge in the world today.
There is much to be said for spending time with loved ones without needing to be intoxicated to do it!
It is inspiring to read about your kind of Friday night Harry. It is even more inspiring to know how young you are and that you have seen through the allure of alcohol and just know that it is not something you choose. Sooner or later it will become the norm to not choose alcohol as we wake up to the detrimental effects that it has individually and as a society.
Harrison, a beautiful Friday night with your family and one you will willingly choose to repeat any day of the week and your body will thank you for every day.
You are a blessing to yourself, your family and to many others. Thank you for sharing a truly beautiful Friday night. No better way to spend it than the way you have shared.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we live everyday in a way that tomorrow thanks us for – such a sweet pondering – thank you.
Very cool Meg, and it’s even more cool when you realise that when we welcome each day based upon the loving and nurturing foundations of the previous day we are constantly building and deepening that love and care for ourselves.