I quit 15 months ago and havent had a drink since. I rarely ever drank alone except in the final months when I really started to see the problems. I would often pressure friends and coworkers into drinking with me, like uncomfortably often, since I didnt want to drink alone. That would be my justification, that it was social so it was ok.
Anyway, 15 months on and I'm doing great. About a year ago when the lockdowns ended I realised I could go out and socialise and have fun without drinking. It was a little awkward at first but my friends understood and generally weren't dicks about it (unfortunately some people just dont get it, and they're not really close friends anymore). It can be frustrating having to explain yourself all the time, or being stuck with crappy options. For my company's end of year staff party I had the choice of drinking coke or Sprite so that was lovely, and now I'm living in a pretty small town where only 1 of the pubs even has a non alcoholic beer, but that's still 1 more than there was a year ago so I guess we're making progress?
In the very early stages of quitting I posted about it on here and received some helpful messages from other posters so I'll pay that forward to the OP and anyone else thinking about it. You can do it, and it is worth it! Think of how much better your health will be, how much more time you'll have for important things like hobbies and relationships, how much more you'll be able to depend on yourself!
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