Hey, alphabet. So lets say word gets out about your issue in social circles. Don't you wonder if maybe it's already suspected? We're often not as good as we believe we are at hiding our problem. So if word gets out, you can either be the dude who's a total mess, or the dude who knows what's going on and is getting his act together. You don't have to be known for your past mistakes. Being sober means you know have the option to be known as the guy who beat the odds. The person who had the capacity to be brutally honest with himself and make a change in his life.
I think that the percentage of people there who think that alcoholism is just a problem with a person's morals is greatly decreasing. The public knows that alcoholism is a complicated, debilitating and sometimes deadly disease. There's still the negative perception of the alcoholic. The drunk driver, the party girl that wakes up next to a stranger, the buddy who's violent, the husband that drinks and beats his wife, the father or wife who neglects their family, the breadwinner who drinks away their job...
but...what about the sober alcoholic?
As a sober alcoholic, I have been surrounded by love and good will. I get kudos and encouragement from so many people. Not just family and friends. I get it from near strangers I share my story with. I am surrounded by a network of sober sisters and friends who believe in me. It's amazing.
Being an active alcoholic is so shaming. Being a sober alcoholic is liberating. Sure, there will be people who think that you must be a morally corrupt person for ever "letting yourself be an alcoholic." I'm pretty open about my sobriety and I haven't encountered anyone like that. It's up to you to be known for who you are now, not who you were.