So I’m in my first months of sobriety as well as this forum, and it’s already painfully obvious how many people are relapsing due to putting themselves in situations they thought they could handle. I am pretty convinced that I’m not going to have difficulty being around alcohol over the holidays. HOWEVER, so did all of our neighbours here who have relapsed at parties or holiday dinners this year. I have to accept that this means I’m at risk, being early in recovery, regardless of how I feel about my ability to handle it.
I pledge for the remainder of the 2018 holiday season to do the following for my sobriety:
I will not attend any party or Christmas dinner that involves alcohol.
If I am at an event that unexpectedly starts to involve alcohol, I will leave.
I encourage all of you reading this who are in early recovery like I am to do the same. Ditto with any person who sees a vulnerability in themselves regardless of time sober. I’d like to see this thread full of pledges, see everyone avoid an optional Christmas relapse, and see that we’re not alone in sacrificing holiday comfort to keep our deadly disease in remission.
I’m in. I am hermitting myself a lot these days, but it makes things easier.
As far as work parties go, you are not required to go. You can’t get fired for not going. Most people dont want to go anyway, that’s why they drink.
I pledge that I will not be attending any festivities that involve being offered alcohol,
I will ban all alcohol from my own home over the Christmas holidays
Already on the plan!
I work for myself, by myself so no excuse for a party. ( though that is enough cause for celebration in my book! I’m my own boss yay!)
No alcohol in the house!
No plans to go anywhere. Except my sister’s and she knows and will be cool to the point of over compensating, bless her!
So all in all I am staying sober!!
Such a great idea. Unfortunately it is my in-laws kitchen that is going to test me. I pledge to walk away from the chaos and read my book in a quiet place. Or take the dog for a walk.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do NYE…I got talked into going out. It’s spa and dinner, not a wild party, but it will have alcohol.
They canceled our company Christmas party this year. A huge part of the reason is because there are many people in recovery and the ones that aren’t drink till blackout every time. I was definately one of them. They want to change the culture of our celebrations to include those of us in sobriety/recovery as well as not promote the alcohol and drug culture. Surprisingly everyone is cool with this. The parties always end up being a disaster for everyone. The other reason is that we had that synagogue shooting not too long ago and they feel it is highly disrespectful for people to be getting wasted and essentially being assholes during the Jewish holiday.
@ifs, I’m glad you started this thread. I’ve been pondering putting up a thread of my own about all the parties and relapsed. I too pledge to stay away from all alcohol!
Not an attempt at an excuse here, but I am unable to be away from alcohol for any day as my other half refuses to stop. He will stop when hes ready and hopefully I won’t be bothered by his drunken behavior.
I, on the other hand don’t want to drink because I do not want to make any more negative contributions to this home. I don’t want to be the reason there aren’t many gifts under the tree. I don’t want to be the one to ruin Christmas dinner by drunk cooking. I don’t want to be the reason anyone goes to bed angry. So I don’t want to drink.
Part of me misses the drunken state of mind, but even more of me feels really good about not being there. I can handle everything with more confidence and with a better frame of mind. Situations are more manageable and I am in more control. Day 12.
I can’t control whether or not there will be alcohol where I am living, because I live with other people, but I can avoid specific identifiable events with especially high risk like holiday celebrations, so I’m aiming for that as a starting point. Want to do that with us?
I just wanted to congratulate everyone who did what they needed to do to protect their sobriety over the holidays, and to thank you all for helping protect yourselves. The fight isn’t always fun, but there is reward to the sacrifices made.
