You’ve been through some tough times, hit rock bottom, and clawed your way back up. Alienated loved ones and had to beg for forgiveness and redeeming grace. You’ve been sick and desperate and had to decide when you’d had enough. Addiction has taken a toll on you, and you’ve been through recovery. So, today we’ll discuss tips on how to stay sober.
There are vital changes that have to be made to effect lasting change as your previous lifestyle was conducive to your addiction, not to your recovery. You can’t go on a diet, lose weight, then go right back to your old eating habits and expect to maintain, right? It has to be a complete lifestyle change if you want it to work.
8 Tips on How to Stay Sober During Recovery
1. Get New Friends
You can’t hang around the same people when you were actively living with your addiction, but need to focus your attention on developing a new network. Surround yourself with positive people who influence your recovery and help you live your best life. You’ve been through something challenging, and now you need people who will uplift you and encourage you. It is hard to succeed when you see someone who is trying to bring you down at every turn!
2. Go to New Places
You need new hangouts! Can you spend time at the local bar and not drink? Maybe. It is much harder to resist when everyone around you is drinking. As well as drinking and driving. A sober person doesn’t usually have a whole lot to do in a place that is made solely for drinking. This is just one example but can be generalized to other places and other substances.
3. Form New Habits
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. You can, and you should. When you are initiating a significant lifestyle change, part of that has to be that you learn new ways of doing things. It is essential to have strong, positive, structured leisure skills and techniques to spend your free time because boredom leads to bad decisions. One more thing: have you ever heard them say idol hands are the devil’s playground? Truth. It is likely that if you look back over your time as an addict, you will be able to identify many times when being bored triggered your use. Well, I have nothing better to do, so I may as well light it up. Sound familiar?
4. Learn New Coping Skills
We talked about being bored, but what about other emotions? In your previous lifestyle, what did you do when you were feeling sad? Self-medicate. Angry? Self-destruct. Happy? Celebrate! Who was always there for you? Your old friend, your drug of choice. So, what does this new life bring? A new way to deal. Coping skills are the methods that you use to deal with emotions and stressful situations, so it could be a large variety of things as it is unique to each person. Some examples could be journaling, taking a walk, talking to a supportive friend or family member, listening to music, deep breathing, or meditating. To learn more about coping skills and other mental techniques, you can learn to cope with stressful situations. Speak to a therapist.
5. Develop a New Attitude
This is my favorite point on how to stay sober, and maybe one of the most important ones we have discussed because attitude is everything. It is all about perspective. Since we have been using sayings today, I’m going to throw in one more. They say life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. I have never believed one of those cliché sayings more in my life than I do this one. A simple shift in your thinking, a decision to look for the positive, a grateful heart, can make you or break you. Here’s how the algorithm works: better attitude = happier = less desire to use. Simple, right?
6. Create a Recovery Plan
Outline how you will deal with things as they arise. This plan should include your goals for your healthy life, positive activities that will help you maintain sobriety, relapse triggers, warning signs, and a crisis plan for when things go wrong. Remember that recovery is not linear, so you will have ups and downs. Success is measured by the obstacles becoming less often and less severe.
7. Acknowledge the Negative Consequences Related to Addiction
Recognize what it did to wreck your life. A few bad decisions can get you right back where you were. Making this connection is vital to successful recovery and motivation to remain healthy.
8. Consider Attending Support Groups
Try Alcoholics Anonymous. Don’t you like that one? There are lots of other non-12-step models out there. Surround yourself with the support of those who have been there and get what you’re going through. Rely on them to lift you and talk you down. This is a valuable resource that you should take advantage of for optimal success.
Final Thoughts
I hope that this information on how to stay sober is helpful to you and speaks to you at just the perfect time. For greater insight into interacting with those suffering from the issues mentioned in the article or if you would like to chat with others affected, try the app, WeAreMore. If you need help on your path to recovery, contact Virginia Center for Addiction Medicine that can provide you with coaching and support as well as the best assistance possible.
