Suzieq17

It was SOOOOOOOOOO hard to not drink.

2 full bottles of red wine on table, and some kind of signature alcoholic drink for the night.

I drank water, was offered a drink a few times and politely declined.

At the end of the night, looking around the table, no one was drunk. If I HAD been drinking, I would have been the only fool drunk.

So glad I only drank my water, but I have to admit that I'm not ready for these settings yet. I'll put off going to another for awhile.

ccam1973

Great job on staying sober Suzyq. It took me a long time before i felt strong enough to be in that kind of setting.

Every day you get stronger, give yourself the best chance of staying sober. Even if that means skipping events like this for a while.

Great job on sticking with your water!

Outonthetiles

Good job, but it sounds like you dodged a bullet. You need to have a firm, resolved plan for the next one. For me, during my first trip back into the wild I literally had this forum open and ready to post for help if I ran into trouble. But in my heart, I KNEW I wasn't going to drink. I was offered beers, and I just waived my glass at ice tea at 'em and shook my head. It was fun and I felt a small sense of moral superiority by turning down beers.

Dee74

It was a while before I put myself in that situation too - there's no hurry suzieQ..glad it went ok tho

D

Avra

Before Christmas i had to go to a number of social things. The first one was tough but boy was i glad by nights end i didnt drink. Like you, I noticed most people were sober. However there was one lady at the table behind me that clearly had too much. It was a charity auction and she was bidding and spending money like crazy. At the end of the night there was this quiet miment where the auctioneer asked her something and the room was quiet waiting for her to respond. Well she was slurring and staggering and flirting with him and it was obvious she was hammered. I was embarrased for her. While i dont have money to throw around i do know that if i had chose to drink, i too would have been the loud drunk in the room amongst the mostly sober. I was glad to go home with self respect intact.

I have been to more gatherings since then and they have gotten a bit easier.

August252015

good job at the party .

Even BETTER job at deciding you don't need to put yourself in these situations yet. Agree with Dee. Time takes time and you don't have to put yourself in any situation that makes not drinking any harder than it simply is.

I have been slow to socialize, I suppose- and still mostly do small settings and one on one, or just a few, people "gatherings" and I am solid in my sobriety at 11 mo tomorrow.

Take care of yourself. Sobriety is the number one priority.

toru

Same experience last night...no one guzzling the wine as I would have. And no one cared that I drank sparkling water all night. Small victory.

Foolsgold186

It felt like I was torturing myself going to these things. Smiling through gritted teeth while wanting to punch someone (especially in early sobriety)

You done it though so well done!

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