As a writer, she focuses on mental health disparities and uses critical race theory as her preferred theoretical framework. For many people, staying sober opens up increased opportunities for career growth and advancement. With a clear mind and improved focus, individuals can excel tips to stay sober in their professional lives and seize new opportunities. Moreover, staying sober improves the ability to focus and concentrate, enhancing productivity and cognitive function. Individuals who maintain sobriety will experience more restful sleep and feel more rested the next day.
What Does a Recovery Lifestyle Involve?
Alcohol can interfere with our call to growth by distracting and numbing us. When we default to alcohol to manage our emotions, we don’t develop the skills we need to navigate life successfully. We also miss the opportunity to learn vital lessons that will help us become deeper, braver versions of ourselves.
- Sponsors help support you, and doing the steps help you to clear the wreckage of the past and give you knowledge of self, something that is incredibly important in staying sober.
- Early recovery is difficult, and these difficulties may stifle your happiness.
- While staying sober is not quite as simple as just avoiding drinking alcohol, this does play a key part.
- It opens doors to new opportunities, relationships, and experiences.
- By staying sober, you prove to yourself that you have the strength and willpower to overcome addiction, which can greatly improve how you perceive yourself as a recovered alcoholic.
Make New Friends
- Doing so can lessen the times you have cravings and can get your mind off of negative thoughts.
- They help you achieve goals and ensure you remember what’s more important than drinking or doing drugs.
- You’ll save money on gas, potentially groceries, and keep yourself busy in a productive manner.
- Say them out loud, what you’re wearing, where you’re sitting, what year it is, what city you live in, that the light is on, that the walls are blue, etc.
Remember how much pain you may have caused your loved ones, if ever you’re about to relapse. Remember how badly you wanted to get sober that time you broke down before this journey began. When it comes to addiction recovery, the only thing harder than getting sober is staying sober.
How loneliness affects your health
If you would like to find out more information on how you can stay sober, contact Empowered Recovery. We offer partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programming to help find the best version of you again. To some people, getting sober just means stopping drinking. Other people talk about the idea of “emotional sobriety”.
- It wasn’t until I saw a therapist that I received homework that determined what mental health condition I had.
- Plenty of in-person support groups exist, with more and more online and virtual support groups also becoming available.
Medication can also help by addressing underlying mental health conditions that affect substance use. Addiction professionals will evaluate your needs and recommend options. Learn that you have choices and that you can maintain control. If any area of your life is out of control, it will not help you maintain lasting sobriety. Shame is having negative beliefs about yourself and your self-worth. Guilt is having negative feelings about your past behavior.
In your journey, you’ll gather many tips on how to stay sober. Addiction treatment can help you determine what course is right for you. These tips will come from experts, other recovering addicts, friends & family, and many others. Addiction recovery is tough work, and it’s not uncommon to experience slip-ups before achieving complete sobriety. You can celebrate your milestones with items, trips, and activities that resonate with your new way of life.
- They can enjoy a glass of wine (or two) without further temptation.
- So that I could receive proper treatment, if I hadn’t seen a therapist, I would remain undiagnosed and not adequately treated.
- Lean on close friends and family for support, even if your relationships aren’t what they used to be.
Do we really want to put this much life energy into something that offers such poor returns? As a sobriety coach and educator, I believe questions such as “Is my drinking that bad? They lead us to compare ourselves favorably with people who routinely drink to excess. They imply that if we’re making it to our jobs, fulfilling our social obligations, and keeping the kids alive, then drinking must not be a problem. All recovering addicts have a journey that starts on day 1 and lasts for the rest of their lives. No two journeys will be the same, and no journey will be easy.
One way to maximize your time is by volunteering to teach others about the dangers of addiction and the benefits of living substance-free. Partaking in some form of community service not only helps you contribute positively to society, it also strengthens your self-confidence and increases your sense of self-worth. Your acts of service can be the motivation you need to keep going when you encounter hard times on your recovery journey. You need all the help you can get as you try to stay sober.
