,
'But I think it is okay. It is early days and it is a big deal. Going forward it will just be how I live my life and I wont make such a fuss.'
^^^ That's pretty much this entire Sobering-up Exercise early on in a Nutshell. That is one great Epiphany you've had, and it can be one Mantra that gets you past inevitable, diminishing AV attacks on your resolve over time.
Because I traveled *a lot* before Early Retirement, my own Metaphor compared Alcohol Universe to living in Japan. There, a myriad of understandable Rules knock us for a loop. I was doing Technical Training early on, and The Group has to understand a concept before moving on. This means the slowest Member sets the pace when Training. Personal Space is very different. Conducting oneself in Queues is different. On and on. A Person could live there >20 Years, and still not 'get' all the assumptions, and subtleties.
Fitting into Japanese Society, while not being Japanese, was not unlike Sober Me fitting into Alcohol Universe re: Social expectations. This loops back to our prior Posts on how Alcohol seems to be intertwined with all Socializing. Like French Wine with 'nice' Dinners, or Beer and BBQ. We've had several Gal Pals get asked on Dates: 'You don't Drink? What do you do for fun'? Me, I've developed a Catalog of responses for these sticky, often-tiresome situations made easier by my Brain -> Mouth Filter being retired as I age. I have fun with it all now, cuz Alcohol Universe Folks often can't imagine our Life. Just as Japanese Pals I took around the expansive West of Colorado couldn't imagine such Open Space. The average Apartment in Tokyo was 20' x 20'. And, that sometimes included Relatives.
One line stored in my Head I've never yet had to use on an Interrogator who wouldn't let up: 'I stopped drinking because I didn't like what Alcohol turns People into'. Mic drop...
As you're learning: 'No' is a complete sentence.
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