I fully agree, Arbor. Nice post
Drinking never gave me any joy or happiness, not even genuine sadness or other feelings, in the last few years of my career. It was all fleeting fake, shorter and shorter moments of delusional euphoria, extreme and unpredictable emotions, displaced feelings, everything out of context and unreal (not in any interesting "surreal art" way). It also severely alienated me from the rest of the world, from human connections, and from feeling a genuine purpose in life. I also experienced the worst kind of major depressive episode during the last year before I quit that rendered me pretty much dysfunctional for a few months. I'd never known depression like that from earlier life.
I knew how to live a good life rich with meaning, personal development, and natural enthusiasm before my drinking took over. The first sober year was kinda so-so, but now I can confidently say I recognize myself again, and more.
I can only fully agree: don't waste another day drinking our precious time away; time expands quite magically in sobriety in ways that those of us who drank heavily for years probably tended to already forget in some ways