Sober people and anyone that cares too listen

Hey there, I haven’t had a drink since 2018. I found I was using it as a way to cope with my anxiety. I would get drunk every weekend, and it was keeping me more calm. Evident by stopping and having a lot of rebound anxiety. I was forced to stop after a couple concussions put me on my ass and was advices against drinking. I still may sip my wife’s beer to see how it tastes, but it doesn’t make me have to start again. I occasionally smoke weed, I know, not sober but it doesn’t do what the drinking did so I worry less about it. I still go to bars and breweries with friends, I just kombucha, iced tea, or water so I can have a glass in my hand and not be as tempted. I still get urges to drink. When the anxiety is bad I feel that urge which is what makes me not have a desire to start again. I thought I kept boundaries with drinking but stopping was eye opening and really showed me how even once or twice a week was enough to be reliant on it. good luck on the choice you made, I live in a very beer and brewery heavy social culture here, so I get that it makes things strange at first. If you can stand going to bars with friends cool, if not, find some other hobbies or ways to meet people, no shame in saying no. You may lose some closeness with friends but real friends will alter their plans for you too.

Hi- I can share about experiencing loneliness and fear of the unknown in early- or anytime- in sobriety. I stopped using substances including alcohol in my mid twenties. This was my 2nd go at it- I had tried a couple yrs before, but even though I went through a recovery program, I tried to do life "my way" with out 12 -step meetings or spending time daily with others in recovery. I didn't understand that going sobriety on my own was keeping me feeling lonely and from understanding the answers to what people did or how they did life with out substances. I stayed in my head and ruminated which quickly took me right back to what I wanted to change, and then some. It wasn't as easy to quit the second time, It took me through even more suffering, lost relationships-even my daughter was removed and given to my parents, I was pregnant, homeless, ill and eventually incarcerated before I got another chance at recovery. Once I accepted that this is where my BEST thinking got me, I was able to let others who were sober / in recovery in to my life. I learned I didn't have to be unhappy or lonely in order to live my life in recovery. I used to wonder what I would do with all of the empty time I would be left with-could I stand being so bored and alone? It was a cool surprise that I had plenty of fun things to do with other young people in recovery- we went to "Young Peoples' meetings and went out to coffee and even out dancing at clubs as a group-such a great time! You can have this- go to a meeting or make a call to a helpline-say what you said here and ask if anyone has any suggestions for you-you arn't alone- other sober people can relate and life will get better. Thanks, M

It’s lonely at the top. But it’s worth it.

I’m 21 as well and was considering quitting I can misuse alcohol for boredom and I don’t like it and yeah so I try to not drink only when out when it’s actually like I’m having fun but even then I don’t want to use alcohol to be loose so I feel like if only using alcohol to help and largely not for fun I’d rather do these things without alcohol to build these up naturally