I'm thinking about being completely alcohol free.
Yes, I've been toying with the idea for a long time. Rather like smoking I had so many quits and relapses it was getting ridiculous. Finally, I just said to myself, 'look, either come down on one side of the fence of the other, and stop torturing yourself.....just smoke and be done with it......or stop'. Which is what I eventually did. 22 years ago. One of the best things I ever did. [There haven't been many:-)]
I must say, I never evangelize about stopping smoking, I have friends that smoke, but more and more, I just see the whole thing as utterly absurd. The lungs - the life giving force of the organism and you're putting all this shit down there. Madness.
My brother stopped about 10 years ago, and he's a musician living in Spain (two things that seem to encourage drinking).
When I (finally, after many failed attempts) stopped smoking, part of what I had to do was stop identifying as a smoker. That was really hard. I think I would have the same challenge with drinking.
One thing that helped me quit smoking was my kids. I didn't want to die earlier than otherwise necessary. The same might work with drinking if I decide to go down that route.
The dynamics are different for us all with these things. I must admit, I don't see smoking and alcohol on being on the same risk level. Somehow for me, alcohol, if consumed in moderation, just feels to be far less detrimental to health. Some would disagree, but I'd find it hard to hold a viewpoint to the contrary with an sincerity really. It's all about ones relationship to it that matters. That is the crucial thing. If the relationship gets abusive, then maybe for some there is just no option but to jettison it once and for all. I'm not far away from that state, but I'm not there yet either.
Anyway.....I'm still on the wagon!
Friday night? YACF and You Tube?....living the dream