Just hit my 1 year wagon (Last drop of alcohol was March 07, 2020)
I remember first seeing this thread back in 2014 or 2015 when things were so different. I was in my mid-20s, coming into my bachelor years, just moved to the city, and kicking the sauce was the last thing on my mind. These were the days when the manosphere was at its peak, acting as a decentralized network of blogs, before Twitter centralized everything and killed it. I was intrigued by the mix of PUA and cultural commentary found on this forum back then. I spontaneously booked a trip to see the 2015 Roosh speech and met some of the guys back then. What a time that was. From Tokyo Joe to Gmac, the personalities never ceased to amaze and I look back on those days with nostalgia. I was only an occasional poster on the forum, nothing like the big names that used to frequent these halls. But I wanted to come back, bump up this thread, and say thanks to everyone here and wish you all well.
I never intended to become a teetotaler. It started with Covid shutting down the bars last year. Figured I may as well do a dry month. Not like I'd be missing out on any parties or anything. Then 1 month turned to 2. Which turned to 90 days. If I can go 90 days, why not shoot for 6 months. If I can go 6 months, then I gotta go for the full year. Remembered this thread. And as many of you likely know, once you get to a full year, you've learned to live without it. You've unplugged from the alcohol matrix. You've shrugged off the shackles and the thought of going back to it feels like going back to prison.
I can finally admit I was a bit of an alcoholic, something I refused to admit when I was an alcoholic. I couldn't just have a couple and be done. It always had to be a steady flow to keep the drunkenness going until I passed out. Which usually resulted in blacking out in public and feeling ashamed the next day as my friends informed me of stupid things I did and said.
Although I initially was drawn to Roosh's writings and this forum in 2014, it's been intriguing to watch the full journey. I scratched my "fun phase" itch like I always wanted to. Got the obscene notch count, started a game/lifestyle blog, even wrote a book. Did all the things this forum used to trade notes on but now discourages. And yep, the hedonistic treadmill was a dead-end road to despondency. There's a lot of toxins out there, some I still struggle with. But I'm glad to at least leave one of them behind. Sign me up for year 2 of the wagon.