Welcome ChicagoSong
I always had a problem of worrying about what other people thought of me. At some point, I had to worry about what I thought of me more.
At that point what other people thought of me was basically meaningless, I knew they thought I was out of my flipping mind, the way I would drink/drug and do stupid stuff.
I learned from people like me in AA that what other people think of me is none of my business and I basically think too much and think I know something.
I've found I'm really pretty ignorant. I live in a little box and look out at the world through my eyes as if the world revolves around me. No wonder I was always frustrated, angry, bewildered and drunk. It's a hard job making the world like me and making it do what I want when I want.
I've also found that the world really doesn't care that much if I drink or not and if somebody was to give me a hard time for choosing not to drink, I don't need to be around that person.
At the very least I could defer the quit drinking speech to "I'm not drinking today". After a person asks me a couple of times or won't take no for an answer, I'd have to question why it's so important for this person that I drink. In which case I don't need to be around this person.
God's Peace