For many years before I got sober I was a high functioning alcoholic. I had a good income, fancy job title, well liked and respected by peers, various overachievements throughout each year to point to. On the outside it looked like I had my act together and had a happy marriage and was a good father.
The truth was I was just skating by, I made a lot of compromises in my career where I wasn't fulfilled, my homelife was pretty miserable, I isolated a lot almost every night from my wife and kid to drink. It took me years of sobriety to come to the conclusion, but I was robbing myself of realizing my true potential in all areas of my life.
Today I live a life without regrets, without resentments, I quit my fancy title job and started a business which is far more fulfilling, my level of overacheivement has far surpassed what I thought was possible. My family is happy and we do all kinds of really fun stuff on a regular basis. Alcohol was holding me back.
I could have settled as a high functioning alcoholic, I would probably still be able to hold a job, probably not the one I wanted though. It is questionable if I would still be married or have any role as a dad to my kids. My health issues would probably have progressed and I'd be dealing with those. I would probably have a lower quality of life and likely die earlier. When you look at it that way, it's not really functioning at all.