No matter how cozy your pink cloud, sometimes work, relationships, or other life events can bring you crashing back down to earth, landing deep in a deep hole of stress.
As if staying clean and sober wasn’t enough of a challenge, how do you tackle those annoying life interruptions?
Hopefully, you’ve been working your program solidly for months, and it won’t be much trouble to turn to the tools of the program.
Share about your issues in a meeting, or with a sober friend, and you’ll get great relief in knowing that other people have probably made it through a similar situation. The same people who listen to your story might even have advice for you, if you’d like to ask.
Pray to your Higher Power for guidance.
Reach out to do an act of service, and get out of your own overcrowded head.
If all else fails, meditate or go for a run, and try to clear your mind for a while.
But above all, don’t let your normal recovery routine fall to the wayside just because the pressures of your life are mounting. It’s a common saying in the rooms that whatever you put ahead of your program will be the first thing you lose if you relapse.
Skipping meetings to do work or talk things out yet again with your significant other is only going to make the situation harder in the long run.
And even if none of those tips work, you can find solace in the fact that you’ll make it through this rough patch just like you’ve done every day of your recovery: 24 hours at a time.