Originally Posted by
Renarde 
...I have been thinking about, trying on, and trying to feel comfortable with the new identity of "person who does not drink alcohol." person who loves to party to person who is very healthy and has no harmful habits. I am trying to see this new identity as a positive thing. Person who has made a choice to be healthy. Person who believes alcohol is not a good thing to put in their body. Person who does not have a crutch. I am trying to not think of this as something awkward or shameful but as something to be proud of or admire. Something that actually makes me feel confident about myself in relating to the world.
I think this is fantastic, Renarde. This worked very well for me in my previous sobriety and even more so when I finally managed to quit smoking. I had to find a new identity and a replacement for the addiction(s).
And it ended up being one of the things that pushed me back towards sobriety again; being a boozer just did not fit with that lifestyle, drinking was getting in the way of my health and fitness big time and I had to decide which was more important to me, which one I wanted more.