Health reasons (I work in the medical field). After seeing far, far too many patients ravage their bodies and their minds with excessive alcohol consumption I (

Health reasons (I work in the medical field). After seeing far, far too many patients ravage their bodies and their minds with excessive alcohol consumption I (belatedly) decided I should not end up like that. I also recognized the insidious changes in mood that regular alcohol use can cause. It may be hard to notice but after a few weeks of not drinking you might find yourself at least slightly happier more often. Mostly I was just afraid of damaging my brain and my liver. Being healthy when I am older is much more important to me than being drunk now. I just tell people no thanks when they offer a drink. At restaurants and bars I'll go for a zero proof cocktail if they have them or a soda or water. No one seems to care. As a general rule, you think about yourself much more often and critically than other people think about you. If someone insists I laugh and tell them I did enough drinking in 20 years to last several lifetimes, I'm good.