Young and Sober
As society continues to shed light on the disease of addiction more and more people are getting sober at a young age. Many come into sobriety not sure if they are finished using or if its even worth it to stay sober. But, numerous people stay after experiencing the benefits of recovery.
Why get sober young?
These are some of the benefits of getting sober young.
-Save Money: depending on your drug of choice you could be spending from 70-300$ a week on a substance. That's $3640 to $15,600 a year, and $36,400 to $156,000 over a decade.
-Improve Relationships: Alcohol and drugs can often make you unreliable and not very nice to be around. When clean and sober you can make new healthy relationships not based around a substance. You can improve relationships with people you care about that you might of neglected in the past. You can be a functioning member of society and be there when family and friends need you.
-Longer Life: Statistics show that a non-alcoholic/drug addict will live 10-20 years longer than an active alcoholic/drug addict.
-Health Benefits: When not abusing substances you feel better. No more hangovers. You don't feel incomplete when you don't have that substance.
-Stress/Emotions: You now can actually deal with problems head on instead of running from them. You're able to feel emotions and feel real joy when things get good.
-Community: When recovering from alcoholism/addiction people often go to fellowships such as Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, ..etc. When in these fellowships you can develop support groups that will help you get through any problem you might face in recovery. You find true friends that will be there through thick and thin and most likely, you'll get a chance to help them and the problems they face.
-Find Yourself: When under the influence of a substance aspects of your personality are often accentuated that wouldn't be when sober. Alcohol and drugs often hide who you really are and when you enter recovery you get to find out more about yourself. You also tend to find a path and purpose to life.
Sky's the Limit
I got sober. I stopped killing myself with alcohol. I began to think: 'Wait a minute - if I can stop doing this, what are the possibilities?' And slowly it dawned on me that it was maybe worth the risk.
-Craig Ferguson
Benefits of Sobriety
Articles talking about the benefits of sobriety.
- What are the Benefits of Quitting Drinking and Making it to 30 Days Sober?
- Screedler's Top Five Benefits of Getting Sober
- What Are the Benefits of Being Sober?
- The Benefits of Being Sober
Young People in Recovery
This is a story about a young woman who got sober when 17 and has been sober for 5 years. She describes her view on her being young in recovery.What can you do when you're young and sober?
Alot of young people get sober and don't know what to do with themselves. All their fun has been based around a substance for the last few years of their life. They can't imagine re-experiencing the fun that they had while using.However, when people actually go out and attempt to have fun in sobriety they often realize that their party days weren't actually that fun. It usually turned out to be one big alcohol/drug influenced blur. In sobriety you can actually experience things. Many people fall victim to the idea that you can't do the same things in sobriety that you did while drinking. False. You can do whatever you want in sobriety; you just may not WANT to do the same things you did while drinking.-Go to a concert/live show: Many people went to concerts and shows when they were under the influence and most likely forgot about the best parts or even the whole concert. Try going to a concert while sober; you actually get to remember the WHOLE thing. After all, why would you pay for something that you're going to forget the next day?-Start a hobby: Every time I started a hobby while in active addiction I would never finish it. I've probably started close to 50 different activities/hobbies and continued...2,3? But, in sobriety if you want to do something you can do it. Do something you've always wanted to do. Become a musician, painter, activist, chef...etc.-Physical Activity: When using, the substance often gets in the way of getting in shape. Many promises are formed and then almost always immediately broken. "I'll drink tonight and then go to the gym tomorrow." Fortunately for you, or unfortunately for you, when sober, drugs no longer suffice as an excuse to not do something. Go hiking. Go to the gym. Set your sights on running a triathlon. Well, maybe start slow, try setting your sights on a 5k.-Go to a club: Like I stated earlier, just because you're sober doesn't mean you can't do the things you did while drinking. Go to a club. You went to a club drunk? You can go to a club sober. WARNING, it might not be the same experience you had while drinking. I've done it. I ended up just laughing at all the drunken nonsense that goes down in a club. But, I still had fun.-Go on a date: Relationships in active addiction are usually a mess. Lots of co-dependency, jealousy, insecurity, and drama. Now that you're sober you actually have a chance at a healthy relationship. Take advantage of that. At first it will probably be awkward and maybe a little frustrating. However, if you find a good partner, all that trial and error will be worth it. Having a healthy relationship with someone you care about is a great experience.-Travel: Many times addicts/alcoholics don't like to travel because they're worried about having access to their substance of choice. But, now that you're sober and don't have substances tying you down, you can go anywhere you please! Explore the world. This world is huge. It's much bigger than the basement or town you've been getting high in.Things will be different.
"Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus."-Ozzy Osbourne
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