1 Year Alcohol-Free: Here’s What I’ve Learned & Why I’m Not Going Back
Sobriety shouldn’t be reserved for “alcoholics”
Alittle over a year ago, I was out with friends sipping watermelon margaritas in steamy Brooklyn. I was already much less into alcohol then, but I had a drink because we were celebrating a big reunion and I wanted to cheers with everyone. I barely finished my cocktail that night, and little did I know that this would be my last drink (at least for a while).
What had started as “sober curiosity” in March of last year slowly but surely developed into the conviction to try out the alcohol-free lifestyle as the summer months proceded.
Just a year earlier, if you’d meet me you would’ve rightfully judged me as an extraordinarily enthusiastic drinker. One of millions in Manhattan. I was the kind of drinker friends could always rely on to join in, whether it was wine at dinner, pregaming before going out, the occasional mid-day glass of bubbly on the weekend, or one too many tequila sodas on a late night out. Living in New York drinking culture was deeply ingrained in my social life, and I had a ton of fun with it. Maybe a little too much fun at times.
So why on earth did I stop? Did my drinking become problematic?
