Keeping the secret and the associated drama is a bit of misdirection in my book (I am 16 months sober and started exactly where you are - so no judgement just evolved thinking). Let's talk about secrets.....the point has already been said, if you have been embarrassed then there likely isn't any secret. Even more so, what is the actual secret? That your an alcoholic, or that you don't drink anymore? So far as I can tell, I don't drink anymore. Why? Because I drank too much and it messed with my head, life, body. What's the secret? Oddly, if I was keeping secrets, it would be my drinking not my quitting. This inevitably leads to the second point: drama. This I definitely think most of us get backwards. With zero doubt, drama comes from our alcoholism not our sobriety. What is anybody going to say or spread rumors about? OMG, did you hear, DD is not drinking. Can you believe it, he is living a good honest and clean life. That deviant actually sleeps with a peaceful mind and wakes up ready to tackle the world! .......see where I am going? The drama only exists when you drink. When you sober up, you are just an average Joe.
Why misdirection? It has taken me a long time to realize and admit this, my secrecy eminated from a fear of failure and a need to keep the door open in case I drink again. Imagine the disappointment I will be if I tell everybody I quit drinking because I had a problem and then started drinking again....that no doubt would cause a lot of drama. Worse, it might even stigmatize me as a failure. Boy did I hold onto that secret! Then one day it clicked....accountability! There are many things more important to me than me and certainly more important than alcohol: God, my family and my friends. Because they are so important I could prioritize them over my ego and fears and hold myself accountable to them. I needed a higher purpose to keep me on the narrow path, and they were it. It also made it so I wasn't alone, and where I falter, they keep me strong. At this point, I have no secrets, I don't want to save my ability to drink again.....that chapter has since passed.