RE: Today it's been 6.5 years since I had a drink of alcohol.
Glad to hear of your success! I decided to quit drinking for a little while myself starting in May of this year, so I'm almost at the 5 month mark. Being a 40 year old stay at home dad of two small children, I need every ounce of mental and physical energy I can muster. I was just dragging ass by the end of the day most days, and lots of other lifestyle changes didn't seem to be enough, so I figured the alcohol was something that had to go. My health has vastly improved, I have more energy, I'm more productive with my time (motivation is easier to come by), I'm nicer to the people I love and I'm happier overall than I was as a regular drinker. I'll probably go back to occasional social drinking at some point, maybe one or two on rare occasion, but I don't know if I'll ever be the regular drinker I was before. I didn't realize what I was missing out on before and it seems like it would cost me too much to go back to it.
Awesome, glad it makes you feel better. It amazes me that alcohol is seen as a harmless drug by most people. I was a very heavy drinker and eventually I also used other things to be able to keep drinking even more and even longer. I drank at least 80 drinks a week, I really had to stop. Much happier and healthier now, and I've been able to build my own business and work full time doing something I love, which I never would have been able to do drunk and hungover all the time! lol