Summertime is synonymous with relaxing days spent with your feet in the cool sands of a beach, exuberant pool parties, fun music festivals, and making sun-kissed memories. For people who have struggled with alcohol abuse and are in alcohol addiction rehab, having a sober summer is essential to continued success in their recovery. Staying sober from alcohol in the summer can be a challenge because the season is antithetical to sober living from alcohol. Traditional summer fun is usually built around drinking, meaning that temptations are more pronounced than July 4th fireworks. Reach out to us online or call 888.541.4028 today to learn the benefits of staying sober and discover how our team of professionals can help you have a great summer without alcohol.
The Benefits of Staying Sober
Sober living from alcohol during the summertime doesn’t mean you need to shut yourself off from the world during the warm months. Your summer can still be full of BBQ parties and trips to the beach.
Because drinking plays a role in summertime fun for many people, including many of the same friends and family in your life, you will want to focus on positive things to do with a supportive, loving circle of close friends and supportive family members who understand and care about you staying sober from alcohol. A healthy mix of sober summer activities and caring people will help you make choices that will make enjoying a sober summer as guaranteed as a colorful firework show in the sky. Here are some of the benefits of staying sober.
You Will Look and Feel Better
One of the most profound and noticeable benefits of staying sober is the physiological change you will experience once alcohol is no longer in your system, defining your choices, and damaging your mental and physical state. As a sober person, you will:
- Sleep better
- Discover new energy and exercise more
- Find the motivation you lost
- Create healthy habits
- Regain your appetite and eat healthier
- See your physical appearance improve
- Receive a boost of self-esteem
The Financial Benefit of Staying Sober from Alcohol
Alcohol is expensive. Simply put, you have been spending a lot of money to escape, chase the pain, or get drunk.
Develop Better Relationships
Chances are, your relationships have suffered while you were addicted to alcohol. You prioritized drinking over quality time with the most important people in your life, and the hurt you may have caused could still have consequences today. Staying sober will help you establish healthy boundaries, identify the friends and family capable of understanding and supporting you while maintaining sobriety, and in turn, you will be a better friend, parent, child, and sibling.
Remember The Best Moments of a Full Life
Not only will your life become fuller as a sober person, but you will also remember the best moments from it too! You can start to build a meaningful life while living sober from alcohol, a life full of great memories and experiences, with a future worth looking forward to.
10 Tips for Staying Sober from Alcohol This Summer
Binge drinking and partying during the summer are glamorized on social media, in movies, and on television. For individuals in alcohol addiction rehab, a sober summer can come with a bad case of FOMO, but staying sober from alcohol and having fun is possible. There might just be the need to find different activities if your usual summertime rituals are not compatible with sober living just yet. Here are 10 tips for staying sober from alcohol:
1. Identify Your Summer-Specific Triggers
Once you identify the biggest risks to your sobriety, you can create a plan to prepare for or avoid them.
2. Understand How To Spot Signs of Relapse
An alcohol abuse relapse begins long before you actually pick up a drink again. Relapse involves three phases: emotional relapse, mental relapse, and physical relapse. Recognizing the warning signs is critical to staying sober.
3. Avoid Old Routines
Doing the same things with the same people and in the same places is not a recipe for sobriety. In fact, it will be much easier to slip back into your old behaviors and habits of drinking alcohol without making a change to your routine.
4. Build a New Network of Support
Not only should you ditch your toxic relationships while working hard to stay sober from alcohol, but you must also build a new network of support. This can be caring family members, true friends, and new people you meet in alcohol abuse rehab.
5. Get The Professional Support You Deserve
Even after a successful rehab, you may still need professional help staying sober from alcohol. Find a program or meeting groups that work with your schedule and invest the time to continue sober living from alcohol.
6. Participate in Sober Activities
There are a lot of activities available during the summer that needn’t involve alcohol in any way. Lean into those activities as solo pursuits (gardening, hiking, writing) or with supportive friends.
7. Commit to a Schedule
Summer can mean a relaxed schedule with vacation time off work, school being out of session, and a radical change in the everyday routine of life. Staying sober from alcohol this summer is more possible when you develop a new schedule for summer and commit to it every day.
8. Celebrate Success
Staying sober during the summer isn’t always easy, so reward yourself and celebrate your success. Maybe you treat yourself to ice cream or enjoy a good craft root beer as a nod to your sober milestones achieved.
9. Become a Mocktail Mixologist
Thanks to the burgeoning zero-proof trend and the sober curious movements in America, there is a myriad of botanical drinks available to create beautiful and delicious beverages without a drop of alcohol.
10. Be Kind to Yourself
Like the waves of the ocean, there will be high points and low ebbs as you focus on staying sober from alcohol this summer. Throughout it all, it’s important to be kind to yourself and remember that recovery is a journey with no set destination.
Learn More at Rhode Island Addiction Treatment
Learn how our professionals at Rhode Island Addiction Treatment can help you enjoy a sober summer. Contact us using our secure online form or call us confidentially at 888.541.4028 today.