Happy SOBER Holidays
Last night, 26 women came together for a workshop called “Happy Sober Holidays”. Ann, Shiba, Air and Sara shared their challenges with holidays – family, friends, expectations, perfectionism, finances, etc. – and how they have dealt with these challenges. Their honesty and wisdom was inspiring.
The sharing was followed by small group discussion so that each attendee could share about her own specific challenges and get support from others on how to deal with them.
Tips For Dealing With Holiday Events
Here are some of the ideas that might work for you too:
- You don’t have to visit with family if the situation is too difficult. Find a safe place to be instead – like the Alkathon at Maple Rock.
- Plan a holiday celebration with sober friends – you can even have a party and dress up for New Year’s Eve.
- If you do visit with difficult family or friends, have an “exit strategy”- announce when you arrive the time when you need to leave; get a “headache” and go home early; have your own transportation so you can leave if the situation deteriorates.
- “Bookend” any event that might be difficult – call a support person before you leave for the event and then when it is over to talk about how it went.
- Have a support person available who you can call during a difficult visit.
Like every other part of our lives, we don’t have to experience the holidays alone – We can take a sober friend and our Higher Power with us wherever we go.
For other newcomer tips visit “newcomer tips” under the category section of this blog.
Do you have any tips to share to help people maneuver through this difficult time of year?
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Written by Cathy F. President of the Board of Director of A2WG, retired minister and a person in long-term sobriety.
