In October, it will be six years since the last time I took a sip of alcohol.

Time has unfortunately softened the impact of my sobriety story. The echoes of friends offering drinks have long since faded.

Despite the shift in narrative from Trey’s taking some time off drinking to Trey doesn’t drink, going from drunk to stone cold sober remains the best decision I’ve ever made for myself.

There will be a time when I tell more of that story, but today I want to offer a warning. Or rather a call to be mindful.

For those who follow society’s lead, around the age of 21 (maybe sooner … probably sooner), you’ll get your first taste of freedom. I hesitate to call it that because as time goes on, you’ll find the opposite to be true. When a world without alcohol starts to feel like a world without friends.

In your 20s you’ll become beholden to its charm. It will seem to enchant you to others in ways that were previously unimaginable. You’ll look better in the mirror, feel better around strangers, and start associating it with a better life.

Congrats, you’re addicted to the way alcohol makes you feel. But that fantasy you’re living in, that blissful ignorance, is only held up by net positive effects.

Time goes on, you approach 30, and it doesn’t feel quite as good. Hangovers linger, friend groups diverge. Partly because some have managed to move on, while others made alcohol a part of their identity.

Your body doesn’t look the same as it did when you were 25. It’s slower, softer, and more aware of decisions that aren’t in its best interest.

There will come a point in life when you’ll start to wonder if drinking is worth it. If it’s adding to your life, or slowly draining it.

For some, that question shows up more and more often. For others, pushing it aside one too many times quiets it for good.

If I were to offer one piece of advice for those finding themselves at this stage of life, don’t quiet that voice.