What to Get on Your Personalized AA Medallions

What to Get on Your Personalized AA Medallions

Your AA medallions are about your personal journey to recovery, and the medallions should emphasize that. Read on for ideas to get custom AA medallions.

Keyword(s): aa medallions

Going through AA is one of the most personal and intense experiences you can go through.  You may feel alone at times, but anyone going through the program should know that they're in good company.

According to the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism estimate that 15.1 million adults in the United States have alcohol use disorder (AUD).

The decision to go through AA is tough, and making it through the program is a considerable accomplishment.

Whether you have 24 hours, one week, month, or year sober, it's something that needs to be celebrated.

Celebrating sobriety with AA medallions

AA medallions (sometimes known as "chips") are one of the ways people in recovery mark certain accomplishments.

AA medallions have been around for decades, and some people think that the first medallion was used in Indianapolis sometime in 1942.

Some believe that the practice started with a nun that would give patients medallions with Saint Christopher on them. The practice caught on at chapters around the country for a variety of reasons.

Some people believe that it helps to have a physical reminder of why you started AA. Others think that it's nice to be rewarded with beautiful medallions whenever they hit a milestone.

Chapters give out their own medallions, but some people like to go above and beyond.  

Personalized AA medallions can be a unique way to celebrate your sobriety and tell your own personal story. 

Imagine meeting someone in recovery, someone you want to tell your story to, or someone that you think needs help.

Instead of starting off with a long story, you could show them your personalized medallion to start a meaningful and important conversation.

If you just learned that it was possible to get your own medallions made, you may not know what to get.

Don't worry!  If you need some ideas for a personalized medallion, we have plenty you can use.

Your birthday or anniversary

People in AA use the terms birthday and anniversary interchangeably depending on where they're attending meetings.  Either way, both words mean the same thing: the day you attended your first AA meeting.

Instead of getting AA medallions that celebrate the amount of time you've been alcohol-free, why not get something that tells people the day you turned your life around?

Birthdays and anniversaries are important, and show how long you've been working on living a sober life.

Having a reminder of the day you went to AA can be a powerful thing.  It could persuade someone that it's never too late to stop drinking, or it could serve as a reminder of how much time you put into sober living if you ever feel tempted.

The name of the person you got sober for

Overall when you enter AA, you're doing it for yourself and yourself alone.  But there are plenty of people in your life that could have influenced your decision to go to AA.

Did you have a parent that wanted you to attend AA, or possibly another trusted family member?

Was your spouse adamant that you stop drinking so you could live your best lives together?

Do you have a friend that introduced you to AA and helped turn your life around?

Getting custom AA medallions with their names is a beautiful and touching way to honor the way they impacted your life.

If you think about it, the medallion isn't just a gift for you in this case. It's also a gift for the person you're honoring on your coin.

The name of your sponsor

The people that helped you choose AA are important, but the person that's helping you stay in the program deserves an equal amount of praise.

Sponsors are an essential part of AA. They aren't just the people that hold you accountable and make sure that you keep attending meetings.

They're the person you open up to the most about your problems, and someone that you confide in when things get tough.

They're who you call when you're feeling down, dejected, or tempted to start drinking again. 

They're an important part of your life and an even more essential part of your path to recovery.

Honoring them with AA medallions would be more than appropriate.  

If you want to get them a gift, you may want to get them some medallions with your name on it.

Your last drink

This may seem like a strange thing to put on a sobriety medallion, but it could help serve as a poignant reminder of what you've been through.

People tend to have favorite drinks or kinds of alcohol when they having a drinking problem.  Having the name or the image of your old drink of choice or the last drink you had could be what you need on your custom medallion.

It could be an excellent way to start a conversation with someone you want to reach out to and help.  It shows people that you know what they're going through and that at a time in your life you were just like them.

It helps you be relatable and can show some people that there still is hope to change their lives and live clean and sober. 

A meaningful quote

AA is rooted in Christianity, but there are plenty of people that attend and come from all different kinds of faiths.

The Serenity Prayer or the address of an important Bible verse are all common choices for custom made AA medallions.

If you're not religious but want something that personally resonates with you, a medallion with an important quote or the name of an author you like could be what you need.

If you like a long quote, you could pick out a certain section that means the most to you.  

A reminder

Do you feel like sometimes you need some extra help on your sobriety journey?

If you don't think that a date, name, or quote could help you, consider something else: a reminder to not drink.

You could get a coin that says "call your sponsor before you drink", "remember why you stopped", or another phrase that would make you think twice about drinking again.

Wrapping up

You can get almost anything you want on custom AA medallions.  As long as you get something that's meaningful to you, you'll be happy with what you get.

If you have questions about medallions, feel free to contact us so we can answer them.