“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” — Warren Buffett

I hang out with a lot of interesting characters, with myself likely being the most interesting of them all. I like to have a great time. I try to hang out with positive people. I’ve had to cut ties with many friends over the years due to them bringing me down and being a negative influence on me.

What’s the price of escaping? What does this even mean?

I wanted to look at the idea of escaping and losing yourself to your vices just to hide from reality.

Is there actually a price associated with escaping from reality?

The price of escaping is very steep my friends. I’ve seen lives get ruined financially and emotionally just from those trying to escape from reality and have a good time.

A few examples of how I’ve seen escaping cost people thousands of dollars include:

  1. Court fees, legal expenses, and fines amounting to about $10,000 for someone that was busted for drinking and driving.
  2. $4,000 in legal fees for battling assault charges for a friend that got into a street fight.
  3. Over $20,000 in credit card debt for someone that wanted to be a “baller” and do bottle service every single weekend.
  4. Working a job that you hate at age 30 just because you chose to spend your 20s drinking every night.

Those are just the examples that hit me as I was typing this. I’m sure that I could dig deeper if I wanted to. What I’m getting at is that escaping and trying to run from reality can really hurt your wallet.

I enjoy having a blast. I love good times with people. I like to get drunk as well. However, you don’t have to screw yourself over doing so.

I’m not here to preach or to tell you what to do. Chances are that you might run into a belligerent version of me one day. You might be entertained by my drunken jokes or feel sorry for me that I can’t walk properly. I’ll never miss a friend’s birthday or turn down a drink with good company.

There are a few things that I won’t do though. I won’t do drugs. I won’t pick up smoking (there are better ways to die). I won’t drink if I don’t work first. I won’t drink or go out if I’m in a foul mood.

One final topic that I wanted to tackle is stress management. If you’re stressed, go work out or get laid. Too often do we turn to vices when we’re stressed in our 20s. The problem with this is that it only makes things worse and it adds to your stress. I hate going out with friends that are stressed out because they just want to cause trouble. When you’re stressed you should try something positive and not something toxic.

What’s the most that escaping has cost you?

Martin Dasko

Martin Dasko