I saw this on Substack and thought it was great. I stopped drinking almost 6 years ago in part to try to show solidarity with a close family member who is an alcoholic. It sadly did not have the affect on that person I was (naively) hoping for, but I have noticed a uniformly positive reaction from my friends and acquaintances. Most of them want to drink less.
One guy in particular, who I wasn’t even close with, approached me at an event recently. He was so excited to tell me about how he had cut his drinking way back. I had never encouraged him to do this. He just knew that I had quit and he clearly felt this newfound connection with me. That was nice.
I agree that there are social benefits to drinking. I have many fond memories of having beers with friends and having incredible conversations full of laughter. My biggest worry in quitting was that I’d miss out on this bonding time. I thankfully have been able to almost fully recreate these experiences, just over a coffee instead of a beer.
Also, the version of me from 15 years ago probably would not have had the courage to talk to my now wife at a party had I not been drunk. But once you do a few things sober you realize life can still be very fun (and even more fun the next morning!) Dancing at a wedding sober and still having an amazing time was a huge milestone, after that I felt like I could do anything.
I saw this on Substack and thought it was great. I stopped drinking almost 6 years ago in part to try to show solidarity with a close family member who is an alcoholic. It sadly did not have the affect on that person I was (naively) hoping for, but I have noticed a uniformly positive reaction from my friends and acquaintances. Most of them want to drink less.
One guy in particular, who I wasn’t even close with, approached me at an event recently. He was so excited to tell me about how he had cut his drinking way back. I had never encouraged him to do this. He just knew that I had quit and he clearly felt this newfound connection with me. That was nice.
I agree that there are social benefits to drinking. I have many fond memories of having beers with friends and having incredible conversations full of laughter. My biggest worry in quitting was that I’d miss out on this bonding time. I thankfully have been able to almost fully recreate these experiences, just over a coffee instead of a beer.
Also, the version of me from 15 years ago probably would not have had the courage to talk to my now wife at a party had I not been drunk. But once you do a few things sober you realize life can still be very fun (and even more fun the next morning!) Dancing at a wedding sober and still having an amazing time was a huge milestone, after that I felt like I could do anything.