Sure, I'll 'share' as they say

For me it wasn't specifically alcohol, but substance abuse in general - poly-drug use as they call it, so the meetings I attended were mostly NA not AA, though there were a few AA ones thrown in.

After quitting the meetings and doing it my own way, there was certainly some struggle, dealing with the change away from a very long time of established behaviour/lifestyle/etc.

But I did it and not through straight abstinence. For many years I did maintain what one would call 'normal' social drinking/smoking habits (partaking regularly with other people, sometimes to a point of inebriation, sometimes not). Now I scarcely drink at all, and never smoke. I'm still working my way through a case of beer I bought the Christmas before last - and also bought 1 bottle of wine in that period. But my choice of being mostly abstinent has nothing to do with controlling an addiction - I just drifted away from it out of disinterest I think. And probably it is heavily related to my social habits now, which are pretty much non-existent since I moved to the USA and came back then moved to the country. I'm sure I would be more inclined to have an occasional drink in a social situation than alone. In short, the whole thing is really a non-issue for me these days. As for why I chose to address my substance issues in the first place - it was because I could see it was self-destructive and after so long unquestioningly following on a self-destructive path it occurred to me there might be some value in getting off it.