Originally Posted by
Dee74 
My old life facilitated my drinking.
My new life had to facilitate my recovery.
Almost everything changed. I lost friends but I gained new ones and reconnected with old ones.
I changed how I solved problems, how I dealt with life and how I celebrated and commiserated.
Yep. It has to be more than just not drinking. It seems like a sacrifice, until you realize it's not what you think. If you don't give up the life that facilitated drinking, you probably won't quit drinking. I tried to go to bars and drink coffee. That lasted about 5 minutes. My circle of friends had to change too. It's best not to see how much you can cheat on this part of recovery. Seeing just how much you can get away with is clearly the wrong attitude, and you need to get your head right about these things.
AA calls it half measures that don't work.
15 years! You've got this!