Often, the desire to blend in leaves us at the crossroad of deciding between what we really want to do and what others would like us to do. One of the most common examples of this is the incessant pressure from peers to join them for drinks at a party or go for smoking breaks together. Be it high school days or a corporate job, this situation is pretty much unavoidable in today’s times. There will be people who will tell you that if you want to survive, network and grow in this world, this is a price you will have to pay. Well while I believe in each to his choice, for those of you who would rather be high on life, I will like to share how I personally dealt with this pressure. While I will try my best not to, pardon me if I still end up sounding a little preachy 😛
Having studied in a high profile Delhi school, going to Delhi University for my undergraduate course and finally landing in a plush consulting job, there was no dearth of opportunities for indulgence with the never resting push from my batch mates and colleagues. But I maintained an uncompromising stand on my preference. And if it comforts you, I did not miss on any important opportunity that was floating around in smoky rooms or alcohol bottles. While I admit that it is not easy but over time I have discovered it to be quite interesting to deal with the situation creatively.
While an abrupt “No” is useful in some pressing situations, most others can be handled playfully 🙂 In the endless parties that I have attended in my consulting career, I have come to realize that if you want to blend in, you just have to be fun and entertaining. And well drunken people often end up being quite fun. But that doesn’t imply that only drunk people are fun 😛 So take this opportunity to discover what’s distinctive about your personality and unleash it. For example- In every party I dance the longest (long after the so called ‘high and happening’ ones have tipped), laugh and talk to people without apprehension and share interesting anecdotes… When people realize that you are a fun person then they would not want to miss you for something as silly as a glass of drink (This will take some time. Till then keep firm).
Some interesting answers that I and some of my other friends have used to deter insisting peers are “No dude. Too high on life already!”, “I am a rebel. So every time someone asks me to do something too many times, don’t feel like doing it :P”, “Well. A wine may be good or bad but still water tastes great everywhere”, “There should be someone sane enough to keep a record of the crazy stuff that happened!”… You can come up with your own innovative and fun idea!
Sometimes when you find yourself in a crowd of people who just wouldn’t listen and try getting forceful, a conservative excuse can be quite helpful like “It’s a religious reason”, “I had asthma problem in childhood and am allergic to smoke” (Sometimes irrationality has to be handled with quirks). All is fair as long as you manage to keep yourself out of the rut. Because it is those critical two minutes that can cause the inflection.
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About Author:
Anoothi is a volunteer at Your D.O.S.T. She is an undergraduate in Economics from St. Stephen’s College and is currently working as a management consultant at A.T.Kearney. She loves reading, writing and solving real life problems. She believes that every individual is uniquely beautiful and there is nothing that is impossible for anyone. Through Your D.O.S.T she wants to help people discover the unique beauty and potential in themselves and unleash it to the world!
