If you or a loved one are in need of help from addiction, please contact our alcohol treatment in Pennsylvania Grand Canyon today. It can also help you to cut ties with past toxic relationships and establish yourself as someone who is capable of giving back. In addition to the social benefits, volunteering also provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment that can be essential for sustaining sobriety in the long term.

I have even stepped right outside of my comfort zone and gone to a meal with some friends of mine and their family (who I’d never met before). In the past, I would have been terrified of this situation without alcohol to help me feel comfortable. Meeting large groups of new people would have filled me with dread. In the now, I don’t even think about alcohol, I just get on with it and find myself relaxing and enjoying the conversations naturally. Tourist attractions provide lots of opportunities to have fun, especially if you’ve never experienced them before. What better way to enjoy yourself and learn more about your hometown than to visit museums, attend local music shows, or soak up the delicious food and ambiance of a farmer’s market? You can also stop by a zoo or botanical garden, go on a guided tour, or discover a new local wildlife preserve or park.

Make a backup plan

Located in a variety of cities in the South and Southeast, the primary goal of each meeting is to continue to provide a nurturing environment for sober individuals. Whether you have a 12-step sponsor, a counselor, your mom, or a close friend who understands your journey, ask him or her to be on-call in case you need to check-in for encouragement. Recognizing triggers puts the power sober networking to maintain control back in your hands. You learned valuable coping techniques during treatment that enable you to isolate what’s tugging at you. Being around certain people or situations might evoke a variety of emotions. Activities don’t feel as “fun” as they did before, which may make you depressed, angry, or anxious. You feel as though you won’t fit in if you’re not using.

A couple of others have drifted away without any trauma on either side—I suspect my sobriety may simply have accelerated an inevitable growing-apart process. My true friends were there for me when I was passing out at parties and throwing up in the back of taxis, and they’re there for me now. Research indicates when you’re engaged in the happenings of your community, you develop a stronger sense of purpose. Bonding with people who share your passion for a particular cause helps broaden your social circle in more positive ways. When you get together with such people, you’ll likely find that they do plenty of activities that don’t involve alcohol—like hiking, skiing, playing games, or fishing.

Ways to Deal with Being the Only Sober Person in the Room

The only reason you find it difficult to have fun without drinking is that you haven’t built yourself up into the kind of person thatcansay no. Your environment is full of people who don’t support each other’s decisions to drink. But they don’t show you the hangovers, vomit, financial ruin, regrets, and fights. And although youknowthese things happen when you drink, you still believe that alcohol will somehow cure boredom and make you have more fun than if you were sober. If you’ve been led to believe one thing your entire life, chances are you’re going to keep believing that thing is true. You probably won’t think anything is wrong until you learn to take an objective view of your beliefs. Learn about on- and off-campus recovery resources, including local support groups and counseling options.

You can also rely on others who are going through recovery with you to provide you with moral and emotional support when you need it most. In American culture, drinking in college is portrayed as a norm. Sometimes it’s hard for people to understand why someone wouldn’t want to drink, even though many people choose to abstain or limit their drinking. While it’s not polite to ask about someone’s choice to not drink, it happens.