Will I lose friends if I stop drinking?
This was a question I asked myself for several years, it was probably one of the biggest things holding me back from quitting drinking. My self-identity was so interwoven with wine. I thought the invites would dry up and people would think I was boring. The exact opposite actually happened. Once I started to place more importance on my own state of mind and put that ahead of caring what people thought everything changed. I felt open enough to share how alcohol was truly making me feel with a few close friends and they fully supported my decision. Alcohol was causing me to wake up full of shame and regret, I loathed myself and was sick of feeling tired all the time, it wasn’t worth sacrificing my health and my relationship with my daughters. I wanted to be full of energy and proud of the life I was living.
My top 3 tips for coming out with friends :
Choose a few close & supportive pals to “come out to” - be vulnerable if you need to and help them to understand this is nothing to do with their relationship with alcohol but about you
Do not become a hermit - if you don’t feel comfortable sober socialising initially then suggest other things to do, spa trips, walking, shopping, there are tonnes of activities that don’t involve drinking, our worlds just get rather small when that’s all we do :)
Keep the habit, swop the ingredients - take along a bottle of alcohol-free wine or lager to dinner parties - check out thedrydrinker.com for next-day delivery or any supermarket now has a low or no alcohol section
