I quit drinking when I was 23
Today, I'm four years sober
Four years ago today, I decided to stop drinking alcohol.
It is, without a doubt, the best decision I’ve ever made.
Drinking had always been habitual for me. It was the cornerstone of every social gathering. Every meaningful moment seemed to require a glass in hand: late-night conversations over wine, boozy brunches, after-work drinks. Before sobriety, I genuinely didn’t know how to socialise without the comfort of booze.
I never really thought I had a problem because, especially in Australia, alcohol is so normalised. At the time, I was still studying at university, regularly hitting the gym, waking up early to meditate. I had routines, goals, and despite the frequent blackouts and soul-crushing hangovers, I felt like I had my shit together.
Everyone around me was drinking just as much – if not more – than I was, so… how bad could it possibly be?
I eventually quit drinking because I was tired.
At 23, I realised alcohol just wasn’t serving me anymore. I wasn’t an alcoholic. I hadn’t hit ‘rock bottom.’ I was just so fucking tired.
Tired of feeling like crap all the time, constantly dealing with mental fog, exhaustion, and nausea.
Tired of waking up hungover, riddled with anxiety, shame, and regret.
Tired of feeling guilty for saying “no” when I didn’t want to drink.
Tired of losing chunks of my life to blackouts, and trying to piece together the night before. Always stressing over whether I’d done or said the wrong thing.
Tired of blowing money on drinks I’d inevitably throw up or spill all over myself.
Tired of losing phones, bank cards, wallets (and my dignity) on drunken nights out.
Tired of friendships that felt empty, built around nothing but hangovers and gossip.
Tired of feeling like I needed alcohol to be confident or interesting.
Tired of alcohol-fuelled arguments, creating drama where there should have been love.
Tired of not knowing how to deal with my emotions. Always reaching for a drink to numb or amplify whatever I was feeling.
Tired of the cycle. Spending all week taking care of myself – working out, eating well, meditating – only to get wasted on the weekend and start over again on Monday.
People often ask if there was one ‘big moment’ that led me to quit. And while there have certainly been defining moments (like waking up in hospital after a particularly scary blackout), the truth is – there wasn’t one singular event that led to my sobriety. It was all of them, combined.
The cons finally outweighed the pros. The hangovers, the money I was wasting, the tears, the anxiety, the fragments of lost time – none of it was worth the temporary highs anymore.
Alcohol was no longer serving me.
And I was exhausted from pretending it was.
The greatest gift sobriety has given me is peace.
People always talk about sobriety like it's something you have to give up, something you lose. But I've gained so much more than I ever sacrificed. Going sober has been the most empowering, liberating act of self-love.
Out of everything I've gained from quitting alcohol, the most prominent has been peace. I never realised how desperately I craved it until I finally found it.
Peaceful Sunday mornings.
Peaceful evenings.
Peaceful relationships.
Peaceful memories.
Peaceful hobbies.
Peaceful solitude.
Peaceful bank accounts.
Peaceful body and mind.
Being sober in my twenties has been fucking life-changing.
Your twenties are supposed to be the years of “letting your hair down.” And before sobriety, I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to have fun without alcohol. I was convinced I would miss out, wasting these golden years to sober boredom. The ultimate FOMO.
How was I meant to “enjoy my youth” if I couldn’t get drunk?
But I was so wrong.
Quitting drinking didn't subtract from my life – it only multiplied everything good about it. By ‘giving up’ booze, I’ve gotten back my life. My time. My health. My money. My relationships. My joy.
Going sober forced me to get to know the real me – not the drunk version I'd been hiding behind for years. It taught me I could be funny, interesting, and worth knowing just by being myself.
I learned to set boundaries, to trust my own judgment, and to say "no" to anything that didn't serve me.
Sobriety taught me to love and respect myself in a way I never thought possible.
It really has changed my life in the best possible way.
Cheers to being sober 🩷
i love this so much I feel like there's so much stigma about being sober especially when you're in college and sometimes people see it as judgement towards those who do choose to drink. I have had more bad/mid nights drunk than fun and only chose to drink from FOMO and in my opinion its never worth the post drinking blues, lack of energy, and money. I just graduated college and am turning 22 soon and want to quit drinking especially once I start working and this post gave me some validation about my reasoning. Congratulations on four years such a great accomplishment!