The Steps I Took to Quit Drinking

I encourage anyone who drinks to consider taking a break to experience the mental clarity that sobriety can bring. Realizing what you could achieve with enhanced mental resources might just inspire you to rethink your drinking habits.

This year alone, I have embarked on a writing career, launched a photography business, lost weight, engaged in therapy, improved my fitness, revamped my diet, and drastically increased my reading—all thanks to my sobriety.

A Curious Trend: Measuring Sobriety

I find the trend of people publicly stating how long they’ve been sober to be intriguing. It’s not a criticism; rather, it’s something I struggle to understand. Recently, I came across a comment on Medium from someone who has been sober for thirty-five years. That’s quite a long time to keep track! Does the allure of alcohol create a need to measure the time spent away from it?

Many individuals celebrate their first month, one hundred days, six months, or even a year of sobriety. These milestones represent the challenging early stages of breaking free from something many hold dear.

I won’t deny that for many years, I enjoyed drinking. However, it was a gradual realization of how much it impeded my progress that prompted me to change my course. Is it any different for me to claim I endured over thirty years of alcohol abuse and emerged on the other side? How does that compare to declaring decades of abstaining from alcohol?

The truth seems simple: People enjoy drinking not solely because it’s addictive but for the euphoria, freedom, and escape it provides.

I’ve often differentiated between drinkers and alcoholics, especially in how society views them. I’m also beginning to see a similar divide between those who don’t drink and those who have quit.

As someone who has struggled with addiction, it appears that even after achieving a level of sobriety, one can still feel the lingering effects of that addiction. I find myself feeling more defined by my sobriety than I ever did by alcohol.

I couldn’t tell you how many days or weeks it has been since I quit. It’s easy to calculate since I stopped drinking on January 1st. My wife has an app that tracks her sober days, and she often mentions wine.

To be fair, I didn’t fully consider what my life would be like post-drinking. My aim was simply to stop consuming alcohol. Yet, much like a functioning alcoholic who sees themselves as a drinker rather than an alcoholic, my perceptions and reality seem to diverge.

As someone who has stopped drinking, it feels unrealistic to label myself a non-drinker, especially when there’s no guarantee I won’t return to it (I prefer not to use the term relapse). This creates a situation where I deny myself something I once enjoyed to improve both my life and its longevity.

The challenge I face is that, having started drinking at such a young age, I lack a comparison point. Before I quit, I had no experience living as an adult without alcohol.

I wonder how someone who didn’t drink in their twenties, developed an alcohol addiction in their thirties, and quit in their forties would experience sobriety. Do they find their old life parameters reestablished, or do they remain in a constant state of risk?

Managing this risk, it seems, is the purpose behind tracking the time since one’s last drink, presumably to feel less vulnerable. But does this mean one is ever truly free from alcohol’s grasp?

For more insights from my journey through sobriety, feel free to join my mailing list. I write about alcohol and its societal implications based on my experiences as a former alcoholic now embracing sobriety. You can read more of my stories and thousands of others by subscribing to Medium for just $5 per month—cancel anytime. Thank you for your support!

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