NO APOLOGIES FOR SOBRIETY
Attitude Now that we are sober, some of us are invited to social events where there is drinking. Now and then, we see raised eyebrows when others learn that we’re having only soft drinks.
Some of us may respond by explaining that we’re alcoholics and cannot take even one drink. A few recovering alcoholics handle the situation by pretending that they’re holding an alcoholic drink—perhaps enlisting the bartender’s aid in making the drink appear to contain liquor.
While it may be useful to tell others about our alcoholism, we are under no obligation to do so, particularly in a drinking environment. At the same time, there’s something wrong with pretending that one is still taking alcoholic drinks.
Our best course is to remember that we never have to apologize for not drinking. In a world that makes so much fuss about the right to drink, we surely have a right not to drink, and we do not have to explain why we are not drinking.
If I find myself in a drinking environment today, I’ll handle it with dignity and cheerfulness, but I will not feel that I must defend my sobriety to others.
© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
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