Ever wonder if you can really have fun without drinking? Patty wondered the same thing, especially when it came to her favorite activity: dancing to live bands. She grew up in a family where alcohol was just what adults did on weekends, started drinking at 14, and carried that habit into her 60s. But something shifted when she discovered This Naked Mind. Now completely alcohol-free, Patty has found that cutting alcohol loose didn’t take away her love of dancing—it amplified it. She lasts longer on the dance floor, laughs harder, and feels genuine joy without needing a single drink. Her journey of cutting alcohol loose isn’t about giving something up. It’s about finally putting on her dancing shoes and stepping into the life she was always meant to live.
Growing Up Surrounded by Alcohol
I grew up in a world where drinking was as normal as breathing. My dad owned a bar, and alcohol was just part of the landscape of my childhood. Every weekend, the adults around me would drink to have fun, and I absorbed the message early: this is what you do when you grow up. This is how you enjoy life.
Addiction ran through my family like an unwanted inheritance. The most devastating example was my aunt’s horrific car accident that took her son’s life and shattered the world as she knew it. Even surrounded by these consequences, alcohol remained normalized, accepted, expected.
I started drinking at 14 years old. By 15, I could walk into a liquor store and buy alcohol without anyone questioning me. I remember hitchhiking to a party with friends—though I have no memory of how we got home that night. I remember drinking vodka straight, wondering why I wasn’t feeling the high yet, so I kept drinking. Then it hit all at once, and I spent the entire night vomiting. Even then, even knowing deep down that alcohol wasn’t for me, I continued drinking for decades.
Breaking Free from the Alcohol Trap
As I got older, I watched the couples around me fall deeper into what I called “the alcohol trap.” I saw relationships deteriorate, conversations becoming slurred and repetitive, genuine connection replaced by the haze of drinking. I was determined not to become that couple—the ones who couldn’t have fun without a bottle, who built their entire social life around bars and booze.
My attempts to control my drinking were half-hearted at best. I’d tell myself to stick to one or two drinks. I’d convince myself that alcohol was making me fat, hoping that vanity would succeed where willpower failed. But these strategies never addressed the real issue: I was still operating under the belief that I needed alcohol to have fun, to relax, to dance.
The turning point came a year ago when I met a wonderful man who recommended Annie Grace’s book, This Naked Mind. I had no idea that this recommendation would change everything.
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Finding Freedom Through This Naked Mind
Reading This Naked Mind was revelatory. The content was so relevant, so informative, and most importantly, so comprehensible. Annie Grace didn’t preach at me or make me feel weak for drinking. Instead, she explained the science, the psychology, and the cultural conditioning that keeps us trapped in the belief that we need alcohol.
The book did something I didn’t expect: it allowed me to remember and heal from the ill-events of alcohol abuse that had surrounded me my entire life. Processing my aunt’s tragedy, understanding my dad’s relationship with alcohol through owning a bar, recognizing the patterns I’d inherited—all of it became clearer. I wasn’t just learning about alcohol; I was learning about myself and my history.
At 60 years old, I made the decision to become completely sober. Not “mostly sober” or “sober except for special occasions”—completely sober. And cutting alcohol loose from my life didn’t feel like a loss. It felt like finally standing in my own truth.
Dancing Through Life Alcohol-Free
Here’s what I never expected: I love to dance to live bands. For years, I couldn’t conceive of hitting the dance floor without a drink or two in my system. I thought I needed liquid courage to let loose, to stop caring what people thought, to really feel the music.
I was completely wrong.
Now, when I hear live music, I shoot directly to the dance floor—no stops at the bar, no drinks needed. I dance entire sets without taking a break. And you know what? I last longer than I ever did when I was drinking. I laugh harder. The joy I feel is fully present, completely real, unfiltered by alcohol’s numbing effects.
Dancing sober is revelatory. I can feel every beat of the music. My coordination is better. I’m not worried about stumbling or making a fool of myself. I’m just… present. Fully, completely, joyfully present in my own body, in the music, in the moment.
The energy I have now would have been impossible when I was drinking. I used to think alcohol gave me energy and confidence, but it was doing the opposite. It was dampening my natural enthusiasm, slowing my reflexes, and stealing my stamina. Now I’m the one still dancing when others are calling it a night.
Standing in My Truth at 60
If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: I wish you were brave enough to stand in your truth. I spent so many years drinking even though I knew, deep down, that it wasn’t for me. I continued because it was expected, because everyone else was doing it, because I didn’t know there was another way.
But there is another way. Cutting alcohol loose isn’t about deprivation or willpower or white-knuckling through social events. It’s about clarity. It’s about choosing joy over habit. It’s about finally being brave enough to live authentically.
At 60, I’m more alive than I’ve ever been. I’m dancing more, laughing harder, and experiencing genuine connection with people without the barrier of alcohol between us. The man who recommended This Naked Mind to me gave me an incredible gift—not just the book, but the possibility of a different life.
My story isn’t unique. Thousands of people have transformed their relationship with alcohol through This Naked Mind. But it is my story, and I’m proud of it. I’m proud of the woman I’ve become, the one who faces the world clear-eyed and ready to dance.
The Joy of Alcohol-Free Living
The changes in my life since becoming sober extend far beyond the dance floor. I wake up without hangovers, without regret, without that gnawing feeling of “what did I say last night?” My relationships are deeper because I’m fully present in conversations. My health has improved. My self-respect has soared.
But perhaps the most unexpected gift is this: I’m excited about the future. At 60, I’m not winding down—I’m just getting started. There are so many more dance floors to discover, so many more moments of pure joy to experience, so many more opportunities to stand firmly in my truth.
If you’re reading this and wondering whether life can be fun without alcohol, I’m here to tell you: it can be more than fun. It can be extraordinary. The music is sweeter, the laughter is fuller, and the joy is real—unfiltered, unmedicated, and entirely yours.
So put on your dancing shoes. The dance floor is waiting, and I promise you: you don’t need a drink to enjoy every single moment of it.
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