Post by @JulianOliver@mastodon.social

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@JulianOliver@mastodon.social 11 hr. ago

@alex27 Beautiful to read! Often wonder the same, however bc of how I'm brained I'm told that my own method may not be useful for some. In fact when I tell fam & friends, they tend to laugh!

I made a decision to stop, so that was that. To fulfill, I needed to recognise:

1. To stop drinking alcohol you have to not pour alcohol into your mouth.

2. The burn of withdrawal is good, & each temptation an opportunity to practice, guiding the way to freedom from both.

3. That it's going to be amazing

~2 more replies

Julien Deswaef

@julien@m.xuv.be 3 hr. ago

@JulianOliver @alex27 On my side, to get sober, I got professional help. I also had to lie to my friends and pretend a medical condition that required I stopped.

As Julian says, everyone is different. But the social pressure to drink is so high in most places and culture, I'd say it's probably better to just be and not to talk about it, unless you're asked.

Julian Oliver

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social 1 hr. ago

@julien @alex27

C'est dur. It sounds like you had it harder than I. And you are right about context. There is no one way.

Julien Deswaef

@julien@m.xuv.be 47 min. ago

@JulianOliver @alex27 I'd say that the toughest part for me (and still is sometimes) is the social pressure. Always having to constantly justify yourself on why you don't drink. It's been more than 10 years now. So I built some thick skin. It's also getting easier in recent years as we start seeing a range of non-alcoholic options almost everywhere (that are not the usual US based sugar drinks).

Global alcohol consumption peaked a few years ago and is in steady decline. We're on the right path.