I want to try being sober but - who should I tell?
Hi all, this is my first time posting here. The idea of doing a whole "introduce myself" kind of thing is really overwhelming, so I thought I'd just start with a question.
I've been playing around with the idea of quitting drinking for about the last six months-ish (reading books, quitting for days at a time, trying to find healthy things to replace drinking, etc). The idea of quitting for good is pretty terrifying and I like the advice I've read on here of just quitting one day at a time, telling yourself you're not drinking just for that one day, not for the rest of your life, and going day by day from there.
My question is - how do I handle what I tell the people in my life about quitting drinking? Because if I say I'm no longer drinking, it's essentially announcing that I have a problem and I can never take that back. It's as terrifying to me (more terrifying, really) than the idea of being sober for the rest of my life. Those people would hold me accountable - but the whole point of the "not drinking just for today" thing is so that you don't freak out over being accountable forever, right?
I'm talking about my mother and my sister, who I live with, my friends, my co-workers (what a ****** day let's get margaritas!!) - I'm sure I could just say "oh, I don't feel like it tonight" but what about when those times keep adding up? Was there a point where you told the people in your life or did you wait until you were more comfortable with your sobriety before you "came out"?
Sorry if I'm showing my ignorance. Maybe I just don't want to commit and I'm grasping at excuses. But I am really afraid especially about telling my family, because my uncle was an alcoholic (now dead, of alcoholism) and I watched for years as my family looked down on him, fought over whether he should be allowed to attend family holidays, etc, etc. I already feel like a black sheep in my family (they're Catholic, I'm bisexual) and I feel like it would ostracize me even more. Not what to mention once they know I struggle with this, there's no going back.
Help? Advice?