We have all been there. If you were on the sending or receiving end doesn’t matter. Drunk texts can be risky business. Looking through your phone after a long night can be a daunting task. Without a filter, our sub-consciences love to speak their minds and reveal our most intimate feelings. Still, Just because you can’t undo the events of last night doesn’t mean you can’t minimize the damage in the morning.
Unsure of what you’ll find on your phone the next morning, you have two options; address the problem and send out a long list of apologies to your victims, or passive aggressively ignore the problem. Although most people might say that ignoring the problem won’t make it go away, there are certain situations where that simply isn’t true.
The first situation where ignoring your behavior the night before might be acceptable is when you’re close enough with that person that they’ve probably already forgiven you. If said drunk texts were sent to a significant other or best friend, and didn’t contain too much incriminating evidence, it would be best to just let it go. At that point, an apology would just give them an opportunity to give you a hard time and hold it over you (in the most loving way of course). Another instance where ignoring the problem might be your best solution is if you can play off the drunk texts as a joke or fully intentional. If you can keep a poker face in this situation, the cards might end up being in your favor.
But, if the damage has already to be done, there are three steps that might just help you out. Be honest. You’ve heard it a thousand times and you will hear it a thousand more. Being straight with someone about your feelings will get you much farther then any “game” ever could. Own up to your actions. Although this kind of connects to the first piece of advice, it is still true. Say you drunkenly confessed your feelings for someone. Call them up the next day and take ownership for what you have been probably feeling for a while. Sure, it might be extremely difficult to follow through on this. But, once you do, even if you are hopelessly shut down, you will feel better just to have gotten that weight off your chest. Move on. No matter how everything turns out, there’s still a big future ahead. Focus on what is ahead. Also, considering turning off your phone before you go out next time.
*Note: This advice is given with the assumption that you even remember sending texts the next day. If you were blackout, you might be beyond assistance from even an Odyssey article. See therapist for further advice or close friend for an account of the night.
