Not drinking so much

I have hit a point in my life where I am not drinking as much, and I am truly happy about that. I know so many people that hit that point years ago, or never really drank that much to begin with, but with my group of friends and the way we live and what we do for fun, drinking and partying has always been part of our lifestyle.
I am at the point in my life now, where I am not only drinking as much, but I am able to go out to a bar or hang out at a house or party where people are drinking, and I can hang out and have just as much fun with out being wasted.
I still go out and have my fun, and yes I do get drunk, but it is nothing like the way I used to party. The other night I went out and met everyone at the bar for a little bit, and every person was asking me where I have been and what I have been up to, just because I hadn't been to the bars with them recently, and I realized that most of these people may not be my true friends, just guys that like to drink with me at the bar.
This has also showed me, that I am happy with myself and that I don't need other people to think a certain way about me, where as I used to care a lot what people thought about me. I guess what I mean by that, is because there is always this perception of me as a partier and stuff like that, that even if I didn't drink or go out for a year, most people would still view me as this crazy party guy and think I was out of control. I have given up trying to show to people that I have changed and all the good things about me, if people don't want to see for themselves and always want to view and think of me a certain way, I am not going to go out of my way to show them any different.