Even if you have nothing, nobody to love, no prospects, no money, sober, you have validity in the face of fortune. Intoxication robs one of reliable narration. Sobriety is clarity in the face of fortune and not the somewhat manic positive thinking it is somtimes framed as - the unreliable narrator with the alterior motive. Nor is it wild endless grieving for what could have been and what really means much much less in the face of inevitable death. The sober person possesses the dust beneath his feet. The drunk cant even claim his own footsteps.