How Can I Give Back This Holiday Season?
Service is a cornerstone of 12-Step communities. During the season of giving, you might wonder how you can help your community. The holidays bring plenty of opportunities to help your fellow man. You might even consider continuing these opportunities into the winter. Try out one of these ideas this year or research what is going […]
Newfound Sobriety and Loneliness: How We Can Build Better and Healthier Friendships
Shortly after we enter recovery, it can seem like we’ve lost a lot of friends in the process. Our “party” groups, the people we associated with, and the environments that we spent time in suddenly become triggers to avoid. However, it is important to remember that these friendships were built on the house of cards […]
Dating in Recovery: But What If They Don’t Accept My Sobriety?
You match with someone on a dating app and they ask you out for drinks. Uh-oh! Dating in recovery comes with some social obstacles if people aren’t aware of your sober lifestyle. From miscommunication to outright rejection, navigating the dating world in recovery can be stressful or even downright dangerous. Here are some tips on […]
Fun in Recovery
One of the biggest misconceptions about life in recovery is that all the fun stops. Suddenly, we aren’t drinking or using anymore and life will never be fun again. Let’s be honest here for a second. Was it really any fun being an active alcoholic and addict? The pain, the chaos, the wreckage, the drama, […]
What Is the Most Important Part of My Recovery?
For alcoholics and addicts in recovery, whether they are brand new or already familiar with the 12-Step program and lifestyle, this is a fairly common question. After all, recovery is a new way of life and considerable experience. There are many facets and moving parts, and each one holds much to teach us. The longer […]
Men’s Issues: Being a Wet Blanket
Alcoholism and addiction can affect anyone, regardless of age, wealth, gender, race, or religion. The disease affects us all the same, though our individual symptoms may be unique. Luckily, the solution for alcoholism and addiction is the same for all of us as well — the 12-Steps of recovery. They can help any person suffering […]
Why “Healing” and “Patience” Can Be Hard Words to Hear
For most alcoholics and addicts, healing and patience are words that can leave us feeling uncomfortable. We aren’t always so sure that our wounds can be healed, whether they’re physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Patience isn’t something we’re very familiar with or fond of either. But it’s important, no matter where we are in our […]
Dealing With Negative Emotions in Recovery
Negative feelings and emotions are a common part of life. They happen to everyone. Sometimes there’s a legitimate reason, but other times they just happen. Maybe we’re just having a bad day, or we struggle with mental and emotional health on a regular basis, or perhaps something serious has happened to us. Whatever the cause […]
Am I Allowed To Be Happy?
For most of the time we spent in active alcoholism and addiction, we weren’t very happy. The briefest moments of having enough of our drug of choice to get us through another moment quickly faded upon reflection that we might be trapped living in addicted torment for the rest of our lives. When genuinely good […]
Sobriety and Anonymity in the Time of Digital Recovery
In the era of self-quarantine and lockdowns, nearly every aspect of our daily lives has been turned upside down. However long this crisis lasts, we have to remain adaptable to the “new normal.” Life doesn’t stop, but it does often change. Now it has changed again and for many of us, the majority of our […]
