The Moose

 

Hello Carey, A drunk moose got stuck in a tree. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it's actually a true story that happened in Sweden back in 2011. This moose made the poor decision to eat fermented apples and ended up highly inebriated and stuck in a tree. It's a funny story, but it also highlights the fact that alcohol can lead to poor decision-making, even for animals.

And it’s not just Swedish moose that have been known to have one too many. In Canada, a group of birds ate fermented berries and ended up crashing into windows and cars. In Germany, two hedgehogs spent the night locked up in the zoo after indulging in a discarded beer bottle. And then there’s the drunken bees. Bees can get drunk from fermented nectar, and become very dangerous flyers, often causing accidents. These stories may be amusing, but they also demonstrate that we're not alone in our issues with alcohol. We humans are no strangers to making bad decisions when we've had a few too many drinks. I'm sure we've all had nights where we woke up and thought, "What on earth was I thinking?" Maybe we sent a text we regretted, said something we shouldn't have, or ended up in a situation we never imagined we would be in. But the reality is, alcohol lowers our inhibitions and impairs our judgment, making us more likely to do things we wouldn't normally do. When we drink, our brains slow down. Like wayyyyy down. Alcohol interferes with the brain's communication pathways and can affect the way the brain looks and works. Alcohol makes it harder for the brain areas controlling judgment to do their jobs and suddenly we understand how the moose ended up in the tree. Making better decisions is something we can all use help with - even when we're no longer drinking. After all, it isn’t just alcohol that we use to numb out. Mindless Facebook scrolling, storm eating, there are so many other ways we often find ourselves making poor choices. These 3 tips can help you make choices you can live with - 1) Practice mindfulness. Be present in the moment, pay attention to your thoughts and feelings, and make conscious choices. By taking a step back and thinking about the consequences of your actions, you can avoid making impulsive decisions you’ll regret later. 2) Don’t do it alone. We all need people we can turn to for advice and guidance to help us make better decisions. It’s helpful to have a sounding board when we're feeling uncertain. And they can also offer practical solutions to our problems, and help us stay accountable. 3) Put it off if you need to. Impulsiveness and trusting your gut isn’t always the best choice. Often we need to gather more information and combine it with what our intuition is telling us in order to make better choices. The thing is - most of these animals don’t know any better. They can’t do their research or make a conscious choice to make better decisions. They need to rely on their survival instincts. We have so many more resources at our disposal yet, we often choose to be the moose. xxAnnie

P.S. Have you been the moose in the tree one too many times? Had enough?