Thoughts on dealing with alcohol and hanging out with friends?

So i just managed to get 3 weeks without a drop of alcohol, but last week a close friend of mine called me to celebrate his birthday,this probably implied going to a bar with tons of friends and drinking nonstop, the problem is that i know myself so i completely denied even after he asked me to go out and just have a few drinks with him in a "kind of" safe reunion.

​

This just make me think a lot, because what really helped me was to deny every glass of alcohol that was given to me, because I know I can't control myself after the first drink the second one doesn't seem to bad and well you know how it goes.

​

I really wish I was a normal person that can have 2 or 3 drinks, stop and go home but based on my history this almost never seems to be the case.

​

So what are your thoughts on this, you guys deal with drinking the same as I do? What helped you the most to stop it? Or is it that stopping drinking progressively like I wish I could is not possible so I just have to deny most of their hangouts?

​

​

​