Real people sharing real stories about their experience with substance abuse and mental health.
My name is William. That’s me – the fat guy with those 3 beautiful girls in Maui this past Christmas. One year, 2 months, and 25 days ago, my 3 beautiful girls, my family, were all scared to death of me. Once again, after almost 2 years of sobriety, the addict in me took me away from them.
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Sitting at my desk this morning, I said, “Hey Siri, what is the definition of transformation?” In her robotic, Australian accent (it’s my favorite of the options) she responded, “transformation: a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.”
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When I was younger, about a decade ago, I dated someone who played guitar. Guitar is cool. It’s, you know, kind of sexy. (When you’re 23, I guess.) So I decided to start playing, and luckily it was something I stayed with, more or less, over the next few years.
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For many individuals, the cultural celebrations of winter – like Christmas and Hanukkah – mean an exciting time with family members. If you’re in recovery, though, it could mean an onslaught of holiday triggers. Returning home for the first time sober is a reason for celebration, but anyone who’s faced addiction knows it’s also a battle. Fortunately, there are several ways to overcome temptation and avoid triggers.
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The journey to staying sober is a difficult one, but those in recovery face particularly tough times during the holidays. Whether it’s stress or simply being around old friends who haven’t changed, there are countless pitfalls on the road to sobriety. Fortunately, there are several proven methods to help avoid these pitfalls. If you take the following tips to heart, you can have a fun and sober holiday season.
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Recovery is a long road with a variety of hurdles. One of the largest you’ll face, though, is having a sober holiday season. Relapse rates spike during this time of the year for a variety of reasons, but the only thing you need to be concerned with is not becoming part of this statistic. Stick by the following tips, and you’ll likely emerge with your sobriety intact.
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I’ve come to believe, through decades of personal and professional experience, that the diseases of alcoholism/addiction and other mental illnesses do not take holidays. They never take a day off and, for those either directly or indirectly affected by these challenging conditions, are active either in the foreground or the background every day of every year.
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Every Thanksgiving in America, many households go around the table and declare what they are thankful for this year. It’s a wonderful gesture and surely makes people think – even if just for a moment. But there is more to being thankful during the holidays and this is why gratitude is crucial during Thanksgiving and beyond.
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For as long as I can remember, fear ran my life. As a child, I let fear stop me from making friends, getting outside of my comfort zone and raising my hand when I had a question in school. I let fear keep me from standing up for myself, even when I knew it was the right thing to do. I let fear keep me from trying a new hobby that I was secretly interested in or even applying for a job that I wanted. I let fear consume my life. My life was no longer based on what “Lisa wanted”, but instead it was a life based on what I thought others expected of me. Needless to say, it was exhausting.
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