Berrybean

If nothing changes, nothing changes. And only WE can make that change. Hence why I talk about taking responsibility for ourselves. No one else can keep us away from slippery people and slippery places, only us ourselves.

Cutting down /moderating solves the problems for some. The fact you're still here and posting suggests that it didn't for you, just as it didn't for me or plenty of others like me. I needed to stop so that my AV would get weaker and quieter over time and I was more able to be around alcohol and deal with peer pressure and learn to walk to the beat of my own drum, quietly perhaps, but still with determination and conviction. And in order to do that I needed to align myself with others who were ahead of me in recovery on a Friday night instead of my drinking pals, even if it was right out of my comfort zone. I'm sure that if my Friday night's had continued being with a bunch of heavy drinkers, I'd still be drinking. My closer friends from that old crowd I do still see if they want to go do something non-drinking in the daytime. If they don't want that, I can accept it. Some streams have merged and others have split, but overall I have better and closer friendships in sobriety than I ever had while drinking.

Sobriety is there for us when we want it enough to make it a priority. There is never going to be a day when we wake up and we can just get sober easily, comfortably without making changes. Initially it does mean some discomfort and pain and getting out of our comfort zones. But this is a transient phase. That's not how things stay, if we work on our recovery.

I'm nothing special. If I can do it (with help, acceptance and willingness) then anyone can.

BB