5 Tips to Help Recovering Addicts Live a Sober Life

Many people are good at drinking and getting high. That’s because they have been doing it for many years. As such, using drugs or drinking is something comfortable and familiar. But, once a person gets into recovery, that’s when they realize how destructive and chaotic their life in addiction was.

Recovery is a journey during which a person realizes how they hurt many people and even themselves. Using drugs like crystal meth, heroin, and prescription painkillers, as well as, drinking alcohol was their culture. This culture gave them the illusion that they were in control while drugs were controlling them.

On calling an alcohol helpline to seek assistance, a person realizes that sobriety moves them from an illusion and takes them into reality. Helpline numbers are run by professionals that understand the illusion and challenges that individuals in active addiction face. They help them transition from their illusion and get into reality. Unfortunately, the reality is something that most addicts don’t know much about. As such, it feels insecure, unstable, and uncomfortable. It’s the complete opposite of addiction. Life seems unrecognizable for some people when viewed via sober eyes.

Nevertheless, a person can adapt and lead a sober life. An individual that has been battling addiction for years can eventually enjoy a sober life.

Here are non-obvious tricks that can help a person lead a sober life.

Be Patient and Have Faith in the Process

An individual that has been using drugs or drinking alcohol every day can’t just switch from an addict’s life into sobriety. Recovery is an ongoing process and a journey. After some time, a person starts appreciating this journey as an awesome adventure.

Leading a sober life enables a person to know their true self. It’s after regaining sobriety that a person realizes the activities they enjoy yet they are not centered on alcohol or drugs. It’s also after starting to live a sober life that an individual can enter healthy and fulfilling relationships.

Calling an alcoholic hotline number is just the beginning of a transformative journey. It’s a process with many challenges to overcome. Luckily, this journey leads to a life without hangovers, withdrawal, blackouts, and financial challenges. These are common challenges for people in active addiction. Therefore, trusting the transformation process and being patient leads a person to a more fulfilling and enjoyable life.

Avoid Drugs and Alcohol at All Costs

Relapse prevention is a crucial component of the addiction treatment process. The trick to leading a sober life is avoiding drugs and alcohol no matter what happens. Without drinking alcohol or using drugs, a person can’t get high. But, avoiding drugs and alcohol is not that easy after a person has been using them for years.

However, you can do it by using advice from counselors, peers, and sponsors. Anytime a recovering addict feels like using a drug or drinking, they should call a person that can help them overcome the cravings. Cravings will always strike at certain points. Therefore, be prepared from the beginning. But the trick to living a sober life is avoiding alcohol or drugs at all costs.

Make and Keep Sober Friends

After calling a drug and alcohol abuse hotline and getting assistance, the challenge that most addicts face is convincing the friends they’ve been abusing drugs or alcohol with that they want to change. But, you must make and keep sober friends if you want to live a sober life. Hanging out with the old friends that have been drinking with for years will easily trigger your relapse.

It’s particularly crucial to attend events where people are likely to drink or use drugs with a sober friend that can help you avoid relapse. Alternatively, avoid such events completely. A great way to enhance your chances of beating addiction and enjoying lifelong sobriety is befriending individuals that went into recovery before. These can share the secret of success with you.

You can learn from such people and teach you better ways of leading a sober life. Experiences of such people are invaluable. If possible, make friends in the sober living facility and keep them even after completing the treatment program. Since you share a similar goal with such people, your chances of leading a sober life will be higher if you have them as friends.

Find a Sponsor

Once you’ve called a drugs and alcohol hotline number and gotten the assistance you need to embark on your recovery journey, you need a person to walk with you. A sponsor is an individual that is also recovering but volunteers to help you maintain sobriety. But, because they started the recovery journey before you, they know things that you don’t.

The sponsor can spend their time walking you via the 12-step process. These steps are a representation of a recovery program that has been proven effective. It has enabled millions of individuals that have struggled with different addictions to overcome them.

These steps are designed to teach an addict to lead a sober life. The life skills that a person gets from these steps enable them to overcome life challenges without using drugs or alcohol to cope. What’s more, these steps address issues in the past life of a person and clean up the mess caused by addiction. They also help in fixing broken relationships.

Some recovering addicts say that 12-step-based-programs helped saved them from potential destruction and death while giving them a deeper sense of self-acceptance, peace, and freedom.

Live in a Sober House

An effective trick that will enable you to live a sober life is living in a sober house. This is a place where nobody uses drugs or alcohol. As such, a sober house provides a supportive, stable, and safe environment for individuals that want to beat addiction.

Sharing your living space with recovering addicts can also provide peer support. That way, you maintain your commitment to leading a sober life.

The Bottom Line

Living a sober life is not just about calling a drug and alcohol number to seek help and then complete a treatment program. It’s a lifelong commitment that requires tricks and tips to help you along the way. Try these non-obvious tricks if you’re having a hard time trying to live a sober life after undergoing treatment for addiction.