10 Things You Can Expect to Experience When Living Sober

10 Things You Can Expect to Experience When Living Sober

What You Can Expect to Experience When Living Sober

Adopting a new sober lifestyle can be challenging at first. There are new challenges that you will face everyday. Learn the 10 things you can expect when living

Keyword(s): living sober

The road to living sober is a long journey, but it starts with a single step.

With the right support system and practice living one day at a time, you can enjoy a happier, healthier life filled with hope, love and positive relationships.

Here are 10 things you can expect to experience when living sober.

1. Living Sober Is Tough, But the Rewards Are Worth the Effort

Beginning your spiritual journey on the path to recovery is not simple.

It is a process that gets easier with time. You will fight your inner demons, resist temptation and experience discomfort along the way, especially during the beginning of your recovery.

Living sober is difficult, but its rewards offer hope, spiritual health and a happy life you can be proud of living.

2. Living Sober Requires Making Life Adjustments

Many people between the ages of 25 and 50 have established their lives. You might own a company, attend school, raise children, and have other daily responsibilities.

You might not want to take time away from your daily life to go to meetings and take care of yourself.

What’s important to realize is that it’s vital to take the time now you need to recover. It’s detrimental for both you and for your family.

Life can become worse. You can alienate your family.

It might not happen today or next week, but alcohol and drug disease hits hard and can ruin what you’ve worked so hard to create.

You've heard the stories of former addicts. Taking the time now for your own sobriety will pay you back tenfold.

3. Denial Is Your Worst Enemy—Nip It in the Bud

You might think you can have ‘just one’.

Perhaps you’ve tried it before and ended up in a bad place. Being in denial about your disease will only cause you more pain. Some people might try to make it harder for you.

Some of your partying friends or family might not understand and say, “What’s the big deal? One won’t hurt.”

Learning to say 'no' to drugs and alcohol can be tough and sometimes seem aggressive.

While most people who support you will understand, many who 'don’t get it' or don’t care won’t understand. 

Some people living sober say it helps to remove yourself from an environment where other people are using.

Be firm in your beliefs. It’s not important to win anyone’s approval, except your own.

4. Recovery Allows You to Enjoy Life

Some think living sober can be dull and boring, but they find out they’re wrong. 

For the first time, you can enjoy the hobbies and activities you used to love, but couldn’t do on drugs or alcohol, either because you couldn’t concentrate or stay awake.

You will also make great friends from your 12 step meetings. They are people who understand your struggle who you can laugh with.

Now you can go hiking, swim laps, surf, and do healthy activities that invigorate you, and have some good company to join you.

5. A Good Attitude Is Key to Living Sober

It’s not always easy to have a good attitude, even for people who aren’t going through recovery.

It takes reprogramming those old tapes and messages in your head that could be critical and negative. One thing that can help you feel more positive is to surround yourself with other positive people.

Another way to flip your attitude from bad to good is to write a gratitude list. Write a list of all the things you are grateful for. Include the people, places and things in your life that add value.

Many people experience a shift in their attitudes when they write this list. Journaling is another way to change our attitudes. It lets us release anxieties and stresses that we keep hidden in our bodies.

6. Asking for Help Is a Sign of Strength

When you’re living sober, you are never alone. You will always have a good support system to listen and guide you along the path of your recovery. Many people you meet in meetings experiencing the same feelings that you experience. By sharing in meetings you will help others and others will help you.

Many people you meet in meetings experiencing the same feelings that you experience. By sharing in meetings you will help others and others will help you.

Finding a sponsor in your 12-step program is a great way to reach out for help. Asking for help on your path to living sober is never a sign of weakness. It’s always a sign of strength.

7. Showing Up To Meetings Are Vital To Your Recovery

There will be times when you want to skip a meeting because you don’t feel like going.

Other times you might want to go to the movies and to a restaurant with friends or family instead.

Skipping meetings is dangerous. It’s similar to the ‘just one’ mindset. You can always go to the movies or out to eat before or after a meeting or partake in fellowship afterward.

Be aware of these inner demons that will try to take you away from your strength, hope, and recovery program.

They can be subtle and unrecognizable. Always remember, that showing up is half the battle won, and you'll be closer to being awarded your 24-hour chip or 90-day token!

8. Living Sober Improves Relationships

Before sobriety, there is a lot of shaming and blaming in relationships.

As an addict, your main relationship is the one you have with your drug of choice, whether it is alcohol or drugs.

Everything else comes second. As you work your program, you become more aware of the role you play in your current and past relationships, and you learn the truth about yourself.

You also begin to take responsibility for your actions and begin to build intimacy. This self-reflection makes relationships better. 

9. A Healthy Diet Helps Recovery

Eating a good diet will help your physical and emotional well-being. Look for foods that are high in Omega 3, magnesium and folate.

Some of these foods include leafy green vegetables, nuts, berries, spinach, salmon, and asparagus.

10. Forgive Yourself for Your Past Mistakes

During recovery, you begin to see how you’ve treated others in the past. This can cause guilt and bad feelings.

It’s important to forgive yourself for the poor choices you’ve made in the past and the actions you’ve taken and to move forward.

Forgiveness is a significant step in the healing process living sober.

"Keep coming back. It works if you work it."

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