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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day: How to Celebrate in Early Recovery

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Just like any holiday can be when recovering from an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol, a sober happy Saint Patrick’s Day may sound impossible to enjoy at first.  When you make plans to prepare for what you will be doing for the day and are aware of what to expect, it may help you in feeling confident about the course of the day’s upcoming events.

Holidays like St. Patrick’s Day are meant to be enjoyable with laughter and enticement for the entire community involved.  They are not days where alcoholics and addicts should stress about relapsing because of the justification that since it’s a holiday it makes it permissible to celebrate with the use of substances.

Just because it’s St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to commemorate by drinking alcohol and/or using drugs to rejoice in the day’s activities.  It doesn’t change the fact that if you still have the allergy to alcohol and/or drugs.  However, it doesn’t mean you can’t still celebrate by going out and having a good old fashioned jolly time!  Keep in mind, you didn’t enter the process of recovery to be miserable!

Just remember to have a Happy Sober Saint Patrick’s Day!

Related: Sober St. Patty’s Day Activities 

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

So what is a sober Happy Saint Patrick’s Day like?  You might not have ever had a sober Saint Patrick’s Day before, so this could be a completely new experience for you!  Sobriety opens the door for all new types of enticing and wonderful brand new experiences just like this.  Try to remember every experience you encounter in sobriety is going to be like embarking on the activity as if you were doing it for the very first time because you are doing it sober, which is a new concept.  It’s like walking your first steps.  It’s all about perspective.  You could just sit home this holiday and be miserable – or you could feel excited about it because it’s your first sober Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!  It’s like you’ve never experienced one before!  So what do you do?

St Patricks Day Parade

A great activity to plan on attending is a St. Patrick’s Day parade.  These usually go on in local towns and cities, so be sure to plan ahead by scoping one out in yours or nearby.  These are known to be full of people, floats, marching bands, packed with merchandise, and tons of fun!  A recommendation for the day might be to attend with a sober network or trusted friends you feel comfortable with because it can be a triggering atmosphere with others partying.  St Patricks Day can be known for drawing party crowds who overindulge in celebrating the festivities.  Being with a group you feel comfortable around is important because it can help prevent you from feeling vulnerable if you ever feel that you are in a triggering environment.  If you find yourself thinking negatively, try to focus on the moment you are in and remember you are there to enjoy the time with the friends.

Remember, you are there for a sober Happy St Patrick’s Day celebration!  It’s not about putting any mood-altering substances in your body for some artificial sense of joy.  You are there to have a real experience based on what you are genuinely feeling by being there with people you truly care about.  So, take a look at the parade, smile, laugh with your friends, and focus on how you are in complete awareness of the memories you are creating as they happen.

When you were out there active in the disease of alcoholism and/or drug addiction, it’s likely you probably couldn’t focus on the present moment at hand.  Now you can finally do that this holiday while celebrating a sober St Patrick’s Day.

Are you having trouble enjoying holidays because you’re stuck with the bottle and/or drugs in your hand?  Contact The Addiction Recovery Center for help today because there is hope to pull you out of the pit of your disease.  Call today at 1-888-510-2481.




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