A bit part of my sobriety was beginning to notice how much of the world isn't focused on drinking. At the end of my drinking I had attached it to everything, and as time passed after I got sober I became more and more delighted to realize that most of the world isn't that concerned with alcohol. I realized how skewed my perspective had become as I adjusted to the world as a non-drinker. Being out among the public doing healthy, normal things provided constant reinforcement of how easy life was without being shackled to the bottle.
Drinking gradually fills up all the space in our life. Sobriety reclaims what we have relinquished. I think there is a huge difference once we embrace the concept of "I don't drink" versus "I can't drink". "I don't drink" is an active, present and future oriented mindset. "I can't drink" is a passive mindset that keeps us chained to the past and looking backward.
Usually when I read about people struggling in the newcomer's forum it is because they are stuck in the "I can't drink" mode, feeling deprived and as if they will be missing something. It is staggering to see the shift once someone embraces the concept of "I don't drink". It is empowering and liberating and it diminishes the space that drinking or even thinking about drinking takes up in your life.