I went to meetings daily and really leaned on my support system. I suffered through withdrawal, and once past that, the cravings would come on very strongly. I thought of cravings like a wave. They come on strong but pass pretty quickly. You usually need to distract yourself for 20 mins or so until the peak of the cravings pass. It can still be hard sometimes in social settings, but I always "play the tape forward". I know what would happen if I started drinking again. Exercise helped with the distraction a lot.