Thank you, @Teetotallyimperfect - and well done to you, too. I feel exactly the same about my own sense of self - that part of me has gone for good - and it's a relief. I hope you are in a better place for stopping.
@Hangingover wow, 7 months is fantastic, and it does get easier, I promise! Just keep cutting yourself some slack - drinking is so socially acceptable, it is almost impossible to avoid - so to have made it to 7 months is no small thing. What is your motivation for staying drink free (I had about a million, some mundane, some shameful, some purely based on vanity!).
@Horlicks4me I am also an introvert and painfully shy. Drinking masked that, I thought it was helping me socially. Then I realised I could just be...shy and quiet at social events. No one cared!!!!
I also drank a lot of alcohol free beer, though for some that's not what they want, but for me it was a life line.
@Thermalpants you can do it, you really can. This is a really hard time of year at the best of times, yet alone during covid.
@StayingVigilant you are so right, the rituals and traditions are ramped up at Christmas, but if you can do it at this time, you can do it at the next thing. You are now in double figures! Moving the temptation is a good plan - staying one step ahead works for me, too, much easier to do on a good night's sleep/clear head.
Actually, it was improved sleep that became the deal breaker for me. I wouldn't trade that for anything now!