My new years resolution for 2017 was to do a year without drinking. My wife did it for 9 months twice, a year shouldn't be so bad right?

I never realized how big of a problem booze is for me and others around me.....well, I guess I did, but the booze always covered it up.

I really haven't had too hard of a time with abstaining from drinks, but I can admit, if I went out tonight and started drinking again with friends, my wife would be picking me up, and we'd be fighting the next day.

I knew alcohol was a problem in my family. My dad went through AA, and I don't have a single picture of his dad without a Jim Beam in his hand. I personally never had a problem with going days without drinking, but once I start and it hit that "pint of no return" it was a mess for the rest of the night.

I am always the fun, happy drunk. Most people really enjoy my company when I drink. I am loud, happy, boisterous, exceptionally flirty, and pretty damn funny, as long as I'm not roasting you.

After a full 6 months of being drink-free, I am really enjoying it. Its the longest I've gone without alcohol since I was 15, and I really feel amazing. I'm in better shape at 35 than I was at 25 now, and I'm sleeping great and doing great at work and learning BJJ, and I'm still having a great time with my life. I guess after 6 months, I realize that I don't need to be drunk to be that loud funny guy.

I'd recommend to almost everyone to not drink. I don't want to be "holier than thou" but it's really a nasty vice. I will probably have a drink every now and then once we are into 2018, but I have a clarity now about my alcohol consumption that I never had before.