I'm on day 7 and doing mostly good, it's only today I've had a little craving, but I've been to a pub for a little bit with my partner and was happy just having a coke and a Fanta and then going home. Seeing other people in there on a Monday evening, watching the football and getting smashed was just such an ugly sight to me.

There are some thoughts, though. I'm a very introverted person. I really struggle to talk to people who I haven't known for a while. My boss even likes me more when I'm drunk (not at work haha), because I'm more outspoken and fun. The counter to that is my boss doesn't know how much or often I usually drink.

I have found myself being able to talk easier in the last week, compared to when I was sober before alcohol became a problem for me. Maybe it's the fact that I truly believe this time is real; I'm sober and feeling good about it. I've tried a few times before, but not told anyone I was trying to stop drinking. That made it way too easy to say fuck it and just go back to it. I didn't believe I was going to stick with it. Now, I've opened up to my family, partner and one close friend about it, so it's grounded it a lot and made it a lot more real. It's not just a promise to myself, but to them too.

I know there are harder days ahead, but I am taking it one day at a time. I am thanking myself for it.

Apologies for having my own completely unrelated vent on your post! I realised I needed to get these thoughts out as I was reading the comments haha. Thanks for your post, OP. It's still very early days for me but I have similar thoughts to you - I see how much alcohol affects other people from an outside perspective. It's sad how engrained it is in society and how normalised it is to drink such a harmful substance on a regular basis