Start Your Own Sober Holiday Traditions
Enjoying a new sober lifestyle does not mean you can’t have fun during the holidays. You put thought and hard work into treatment, recovery, and establishing a sober lifestyle. Now it’s the perfect time to celebrate your accomplishments by establishing sober holiday traditions. Family and friends can respect that sobriety is the rule. Positive and healthy changes can be an excellent reason to anticipate the excitement of new possibilities.
Newly Sober in the Holiday Season
Maintaining sobriety during the holiday season may raise feelings of anxiety or fear. It is understandable to wonder how you will interact in social situations that have always involved alcohol. However, putting yourself in those situations after recently establishing a sober lifestyle can be avoided. The solution remains to develop new sober holiday traditions and surround yourself with happy, supportive friends and family.
Now is the time to start making positive changes. The holiday season is for making memories, and now you will make memories around your sober lifestyle. But fortunately, the truth is you are leaving behind blackouts, hangovers, and unintentional insults to friends and loved ones. So gathering your thoughts, jotting down some ideas to share with friends, and marking the dates on the calendar can begin your new sober holiday traditions.
Why New Sober Holiday Traditions are Special
Sobriety has many advantages, but if you are newly sober, you may not realize them because you haven’t experienced the holidays sober. In addition, many freshly sober individuals have little or no experience with celebrations that do not include alcohol or drugs. Therefore, accentuating the positive through establishing new sober holiday traditions is an avenue to additional personal growth.
- Setting the scene for new holiday memories. Now that you are in the driver’s seat, you can select the boundaries for making new memories. Memories are for remembering and looking back on. Who knows how many memories of the past are missing due to drinking too much or being out of it from drugs? You have learned to be present, experience your feelings, and enjoy the new sober holiday traditions.
- Waking up with a smile. New sober holiday traditions designed by you and your friends and family involve waking up the next day with a smile. So you can wake up refreshed, full of energy, and ready to take on the new experience without a hangover or regrets. Setting yourself up for guilt-free fun is a fantastic accomplishment. A holiday season with no embarrassments is an extra positive bonus.
- Remain level-headed and safe this season. No worries about drunk driving or where you parked the car. By remaining sober, you can easily steer your way through the new holiday traditions. In addition, no chance of trouble with the law, and staying level-headed helps with stress and emotions others may have difficulty pushing through. Control is your friend in sobriety.
Ideas for Sober Holiday Traditions
Sober holiday traditions have meaning and purpose. However, understanding that alcohol and drugs aren’t the reason for the season makes this transition manageable. Enjoy the control you have achieved in your new lifestyle and set the boundaries. Celebrations are for making memories that you enjoy remembering.
Decorating the Tree Party
Decorating your new lifestyle with the holiday trimmings will allow you to express yourself, and asking friends for help is the reason for the season. So hop in the car and take a holiday light tour before deciding how you want your house or apartment to look. Get some great ideas and then carry them out. This new sober holiday tradition can include root beer floats and Christmas cookies after the lights are up.
Holiday Gift Crafting at Your House
New sober holiday traditions can be productive as well as fun. Find creative ideas online to make holiday gifts for your family and friends and spend an evening crafting with friends. This tradition can be entertaining, funny, and thrifty. When focusing on giving, it is easy to forget about years past when all you did was drink. Holiday movies or music in the background is an additional component everyone loves.
Holiday Bake-off Competition
Leave the chili competition for fall and try a holiday cookie or baked goods competition. Charge an entry fee, vote for first place, and give the winner a new cookbook. Also, watch your favorite movies or go caroling. It’s all about doing what makes you happy. Sober holiday traditions are for you to set in place and repeat year after year. Take a lot of pictures.
Board Game Night
Have several friends bring board games over for a few hours of laughter. Sober holiday traditions can mean the same game yearly or drawing names to see who gets a new game. Pizza is a great precursor to game playing, and popcorn is a treasured snack. There are many great games to play in small or large groups. Send out invitations with the ground rules and enjoy the antics.
Sober Holiday Traditions of Volunteering for Charity
There are so many reasons to volunteer for the holiday season. Ask your friends or family to support your charity. Sober holiday traditions can help broaden your healthy and positive lifestyle. Host a neighborhood food pantry, giving tree, or participate in a well-established charity event. Visit a new support group and share your testimony. Understanding the strength and confidence you can gain through helping others is essential.
Find Help in Establishing New Sober Holiday Traditions in Atlanta
We understand doubt and loneliness during the holidays. Retreat of Atlanta can help you find ways to turn your doubt into caring by offering programs to strengthen your commitment to staying sober. In addition, our staff can help steer you towards opportunities for aftercare and community work to increase self-esteem and enhance your holiday spirit. Contact us today for more information.