1. Don’t get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired.
The reason for this is when you get to hungry lonely or tired it opens the door for the diseases and the possibility of relapse.
2. Eat a well balanced meal.
It is important to eat a well balanced meal to keep you healthy. I think when we are not healthy are resistance to fight the disease is down; for instance, when you get the flu you feel run down. While you are feeling run down your resistance to fight the disease will also be down.
3. Exercise regularly
This important when you are fit and in shape you feel better. Exercise also helps with depression. This is great because as recovering addicts or alcoholics we do get depressed.
4. Attend meetings on a regular basis.
I can’t stress this enough. Attending meetings helps you get around other people like yourself. It allows you to share things that may be bothering you and allows you to grow in your recovery. It also helps you to not relapse. I have heard hundreds of people share when they came back from a relapse that they had quit going to meetings.
5. Get a sponsor.
I would have to say this is extremely important. When choosing a sponsor find someone that you can use for a role model; for instance, I really like my sponsor’s message and his spiritual connection with his HP. A sponsor should have a minimum of 2 years clean.
6. Go to church.
Try going to church you don’t have to be a specific domination. Just go to get out of yourself and to work on your connection with a HP.
7. Meditate.
There are millions of ways to meditate in my opinion no wrong way. Just find a quiet place and practice quieting your mind. It will take practice. I use meditation CD’s the ones with the birds and running water. It is very relaxing.
8. Go to a movie
This is for me the best escape in the world. It allows me to forget every thing and relax for two hours. I believe our minds need that vacation from time to time.
9. Read recovery literature.
Recover literature is enlightening and may answer questions you have. It also keeps you focused so you do not forget where you came from.
10. Go to recover functions like a dance.
This is a cool way to socialize talk with women and maybe even dance with a couple.
11. Have coffee with other recovering addicts-alcoholics.
When we go to coffee we play cards and talk about the steps. We do not always just talk about recovery we do have lives outside of NA.
12. Go out for dinner treat yourself.
It is good to treat yourself this is a great way to show that you like yourself and your favorite dish is icing on the cake. If you want to eat alone that’s fine. It is good for us to spend a little time alone and I did say a little time! an addict alone is in bad company.
13. Treat others like you would treat your self.
I think we need to learn to respect others and learn to love them despite their defects. We certainly did not respect others in our using days and least of all ourselves.
14. Stay away from slippery places bars, old friends, ect.
When we first get clean it is suggested that we lose are old friends and delete their phone numbers. There is a saying around the tables if you go to the barbershop enough times you will eventually get a haircut. I think that is self explanatory.
15. Write the steps.
Writing the steps my sponsor told me is the way that he shows that he loves himself. It also helps us to learn about our true selves. It opens the door for growth and allows us to become loving and caring human beings. We will find out that we are not hopelessly bad people.
16. Call recovering people.
We need to practice picking up the phone because it is often our lifeline. It helps us in times of difficulty to share with another recovering addict.
17. Hang out with your family if they don’t use.
This great way to begin to repair the wreckage of our past and show them the new person we are becoming. It gives us the opportunity to renew our love for each other and maybe even forgiveness. We all have a desire to be loved.
18. Try helping someone the rewards are indescribable.
My thing is to help someone and not tell anyone about it. When you help someone from your heart you will not need the praise from others it will feel good by just doing it.
19. Go fishing or some other sport you enjoy.
It is very relaxing to be on the water at daybreak and watch the sun come up and the birds and nature come alive. It is somehow very magical and spiritual.
20. Join a home group.
We are fond of saying in NA get a home group don’t be homeless. It is good to be a part of something. We often plan outings at home group meeting like picnics, bowling, pool tournaments.
21. Go back to school.
Ok here is the lowdown on school. My therapist told me when I first got clean that I could be anything I wanted to be and for the first time in my life I believed it. Go back to school and be all you can be lost dreams awaken.
22. Go for a long walk.
A long walk is food for the spirit. It also is good for all parts of your body. I like to think as it like this. A healthy body is a healthy mind and we sure as hell want a sound mind when dealing with addiction we need all the tools we can get.
23. Try an old hobby you used to enjoy.
Put together a model or work a puzzle. These are great ways to relax. It is also a way to find balance and many of us truly need balance in our busy lives.
24. Keep a daily journal.
This is a great way to take a personal inventory. It is a great way to check our behavior. We can reflect on the things we need to work on as well as feel good about nice things we have done to help other addicts.
25. Pray every day.
Praying every day is a great way to stay in touch with our HP plus it will allow you to grow spiritually. The only time many of us prayed in our using days was to ask God for help to get us out of some kind of mess we had created.
26. Underneath every skirt there is a slip.
You will want to use caution when you remove the skirt because there may be a slip!! I can not count the number of addicts and alcoholics that have relapsed during a new relationship or old one for that matter.
These are some good tips to help any alcoholic stop drinking and stay sober.
So there you have it, 26 recovery tips. Anyone got any more they’d like to share?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
While I’ve always felt a bit troubled by the importance that “God” plays in addiction therapy, I’m becoming more open to the idea (not only in drug addiction therapy, but in general). But, even ignoring the higher power stuff, I think this is a great list of tips. I’ve seen people recover greatly due to following many of the tips you’ve written about. I’ll be sure to show this to anyone I know who needs the help.
Thank you for your comment Adam and I am glad that you liked my tips. I think being more open to the importance that God plays in addiction therapy and in general is a big step. Just remember things happen over time that’s how we learn not necessarily overnight.
Thanks… your tips are an enlightenment. I printed the tips and will keep them in my new recovery binder. God Bless