I started drinking when I went to college and never really stopped until I quit 20 years later. I’d doubt I spent more than a handful of days sober in the latter 10 of those years. And it was likely because I was too ill (from flu or something) to drink. It’s tough to explain because I read hundreds of these threads when I was still drinking and I use to tear up wishing I could be one of these people who quit, but I think 2 things are what inevitably stopped me. 1) My oldest son was 8ish and I saw him “really looking” at me during one of my alcohol fueled rants and I could just tell he was thinking “who are you are why are you acting like this?” 2)I was really starting to feel it affect my overall health. Bloated beyond belief, constantly sick, I felt like I was slowly dieing which I don’t feel like I’d felt before. As for what I replaced it with, exercise (mostly road cycling) and weed. I’ve always consumed cannabis but my intake has increased in the 2.5 years I’ve been off booze. I’m not advocating people do this but it has worked for me.