Summertime is a time to let loose, relax, and vacation. With the sun out and beautiful weather, you may find yourself ready to enjoy all that the summer has to offer. Typically, you have found yourself with a drink in your hand and drugs in your pocket, but this summer, you are doing something different. You have taken time to get sober and want nothing more than to continue down that path. Since this is your first summer sober, you should take careful consideration of how to keep moving forward on your recovery path. Here are seven benefits to staying sober this summer.
You Can Remember Everything.
How many times have you woken up hungover, blacked out, or passed out from being drunk or high? Probably too many times to count, which made you lose out on countless opportunities. Coming to after oblivion is often followed by trying to piece together the events that happened. Usually, this blackout period can cause confusion and high anxiety, especially if you experience withdrawal symptoms. Not being able to remember what you did previously is scary and can cause you to feel insecure.
You Will Not Have to Rely on Others to Take Care of You.
How often have others had to tend to you because you are too high to too drunk to function? Drugs and alcohol make life under the influence more of a chore than it is fun. People around you probably have to babysit you, carry you out of places, and keep you from getting into unnecessary fights with others. It is exhausting for everyone involved when you are incapable of controlling your drinking and drug use. Furthermore, there is a great deal of embarrassment associated with that kind of behavior.
You Do Not Have to Become Mr. Hyde.
Have you ever had people tell you that you are a different person once you get drunk? You may be a kind and loving person, but once you start drinking or using, your principles go out the window. Drunk and high, you are a hot mess that needs constant supervision when you are around others, or you may find yourself thrown out of places or in handcuffs. The personality that comes out when you are under the influence is not worth the trouble you cause. The few times when you are sweet and fun do not offset the bad times.
You Will Not Have to Apologize as Much.
Do you find yourself having to apologize for the things you did while you were drunk or high? Your behavior, when you are drunk or high, has little to do with the person you really are. Lying, cheating, stealing, driving drunk, and fighting follow excessive drug and alcohol use. These substances make you feel invincible and take away your inhibitions. All bets are off once you get drunk or high. Your moral code becomes null and void. Once you realize what you have done in a drunken stupor or drugged haze, you may feel mortified with what you have done.
You Can Have Real Relationships.
Have you ruined essential relationships because you were always high or drunk? A person who lacks self-esteem, feels victimized by others’ actions, and continuously relives the past cannot maintain healthy relationships. Your resentments prevent you from having any real connections. You are not working on yourself as much as you are trying to control people, places, and things. All of this, while putting a priority on drugs and alcohol, makes being in a relationship pretty tricky. Healthy relationships already take a lot of work. When you are prioritizing drugs and alcohol over loved ones, your personal and professional relationships suffer the most.
You Can Learn to Love Yourself
Are you able to see yourself in the mirror knowing you have a problem with drugs and alcohol? Filling your body with substances will destroy your self-esteem. Copious amounts of drugs and alcohol are not good for the body, the mind, or the soul. Self-loathing, self-deprecation, and lowered self-esteem are the direct result of the addictive cycle. Breaking promises and being insensitive to others also affects how you view yourself. All of your adverse actions will eventually bring you to a breaking point where you cannot respect yourself or benefit from self-love.
You Can Embark on New Adventures
The consequences of drinking and using drugs will catch up to you. You may wind up incarcerated or unwelcome in bars or friend’s houses. You may become too drunk or high to leave your home. Once you get sober, however, you regain the freedom your addiction stole. Rather than be chained to these elusive substances, you can grow in the spirit of recovery. The sky is the limit in recovery, and you can learn to live in a much healthier environment and existence by letting go of drugs and alcohol and letting in sobriety. When you make recovery your main priority this summer, you will start reaping the benefits of continued sobriety.
Valiant Living wants to make this summer beneficial by giving you the resources you need to stay sober from drugs and alcohol. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, we foster connection. Clients are encouraged to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power.
Give us a call today to get started: 303-536-5463
