From Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine—Americans working a program of recovery have a difficult day ahead of them with Christmas on our doorstep. People in recovery often dread the holiday season, and for good reason. Emotions tend to run high during the holidays, often revealing the vulnerability and fragility of recovery. Letting up on one’s program, even in the slightest degree, can bring about serious consequences. Staying plugged into your program of recovery during on Christmas is the best way to ensure that you keep your sobriety.
Whether you are new to recovery, or an old timer, the stakes are equally high. It is not just newcomers who struggle with the holiday season, people with many years of sober time have a hard time, too. Christmas can bring back memories of a time before one's drinking or drugging became unmanageable. Nostalgia can be a slippery slope for people in recovery.
It is important to set such feelings aside and work hard to develop new holiday rituals and traditions with your peers in recovery. A number of people working program will have an urge to isolate tomorrow, thinking that it will make the day easier. But solitude usually has an opposite effect, causing people to get lost in their mind with unsafe thoughts. The head of an addict or alcoholic, as you are probably aware, can be a dangerous place.
The best way to get out of yourself is to channel your energy elsewhere. Attending 12-Step or SMART Recovery meetings on Christmas is great way to keep your sobriety intact this Christmas. If you are feeling shaky, you should share with the group about it. You are definitely not alone, and your words may help someone is even shakier. It is likely that someone will give you some feedback, imparting some wisdom for dealing with your feelings.
Tomorrow is a perfect opportunity to reach out to newcomers, as they are often the most likely to relapse. Having a conversation with a newcomer may help them stay the course, making it through Christmas without “using.” Helping others makes you feel better about yourself, which can actually keep you stay sober for one more day.
At Celebrate Hope at Hope by The Sea we would like to wish everyone working a program of recovery a safe and sober Christmas Eve and Day. And please remember, we don’t drink or drug—no matter what.
Celebrate Hope is the Christian residential drug rehab and alcohol treatment program offered by Hope by the Sea. We are located in the coastal communities of Orange County Southern California. Our faith-focused mission is to minister the love of Jesus Christ to the least, the last and the lost. The pain, turmoil, and devastation caused by addiction needs to come to an end. Help is needed. Help is available. Call Today! (888) 350-6910
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