After years of heavy drinking (rock'n'roll and stuff) I woke up in one morning, found out what I have done yesterday (again) and decided that I don't want to see this face in the mirror again. It was 20+ years ago and I haven't touched alcohol since then. I can visit any party, can take part of conversations even with quite drunk people, but can leave any time I want and not to have any problems in the next morning.
Yes, there are questions and "But wine?", "But a good beer?" social pressure, but being in my fifties probably helps a lot to preserve my "I don't care" attitude towards this.
Folks will naturally ask, "How did you get to this point?"
One insight into successfully walking away from addictions is recognizing that this thing (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes) is unambiguously poisonous. "When I [take/do] this, it will take more than it gives."
Hard to articulate, but it happens when the scales that painted the substance with redeeming qualities falls from your eyes. Sorta like discovering you've entertained a damaging relationship for too long. However much worth this person has, being in a relationship with them is not good for you (or others, usually).
It really wasn't any more complicated than that. I just didn't want to be this drinking person any more and I realized how massive waste of time it has been.
It probably means though that I didn't have any chemical addiction and it certainly helped that I had a things to do that benefited instantly from my decision – my work at that time.
It probably also helped that I was raised up by parents who didn't allow me to blame others when things went wrong with me – "You can't change to world no matter badly it behaves, but you can always do better yourself."
Yes, there are questions and "But wine?", "But a good beer?" social pressure, but being in my fifties probably helps a lot to preserve my "I don't care" attitude towards this.