Balancing a Family in Sobriety

Wife, husband, kids, work, house and find time for a meeting? What are we super heroes? The answer is in our own way we are. We are some of the few people who are willing and able to accept that our lives are unmanageable and without addiction recovery and the help of programs such as Above It All, AA, or other 12 step programs we have a very little chance at recovering. Thankfully we now have this amazing program to give us tools to cope with the overwhelming stress that taking care of a family can bring. These tools consist of calling our sponsor whenever we find a free moment while cooking dinner or hands free calling while dropping the kids off at school, praying or meditating while taking a shower or before we even get out of bed in the morning, fellowshipping with other sober people who also have families that may have kids the same age or live in the area, and thankful there are meeting around the clock that you can attend. There will always be some excuse as to why we can’t work a strong program, but it’s important to ask yourself to what links you were once willing to go to get that next drink and be reminded that our family obligations never stopped us from harming ourselves so we should have no excuse now. If we don’t work a strong program we will not be able to fulfill our obligations to our family because this cunning baffling disease will be our demise.

Finding a job in sobriety

Trying to find a job in general can be an overwhelming experience but when you’re just getting sober and receiving addiction treatment it can seem almost impossible. The good news is through Above It All Treatment Center, AA or other 12 step programs you now have an amazing support team that can provide you with the tools to cope with this and many other events in your life. Sobriety offers a variety of tools to help manage the stress that job hunting can bring. Some of these tools include calling your sponsor when you begin to feel overwhelmed or feel like drinking, praying ,meditating and reflecting on what type of job you may need or would be appropriate at  this stage in your sobriety, asking your fellow sober friends for advice on good locations or stable environments  to work in, looking for jobs within the program, finding a list of meetings for the area in which you will be seeking employment, attending a meeting prior to your interview to gain clarity and attending a meeting after regardless of the outcome of the interview. Armed with these tools you will be able to handle the stress that job hunting can bring. One of the many blessings that come from getting sober is the fact that you do not have to go it alone. Win or lose you have people in your corner to support you when you feel like things are becoming too much to handle.

Understanding Codependency and Finding Balance

While it is easy to find comfort in the company of others, there is something to be said for time alone. In the beginning of our sobriety before we go to Above It All Treatment Center, AA, or alcohol centers we may find it easy to latch on to the nearest circle of sober friends. Don’t be mistaken having a social circle is a great idea, however, is important that we still find time to do the things necessary to keep healthy boundaries and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whether it is in relationships or friendships it is important to construct healthy limits. 

Much like drinking every day hanging out with someone on a daily basis to the point of forgetting our obligations is never good. The good news is now that when you stay sober you are given the ability to see these situations more quickly and clearly. With the tools in this program you are able to decipher between healthy and unhealthy behavior. If you know you have a deadline at work then instead of spending hours at the mall with your friends in order to distract yourself you can set aside a time to spend while still showing up for your obligations. 

It is all about finding a healthy balance in our daily lives.  Once we have gone through detox and gotten sober we are able to look for that healthy balance that we have been seeking out for most of our lives but until now have not be able to achieve.

Moving in Sobriety

Whether it’s moving across the city or across the country moving is an event that many find to be stressful. The overwhelming stress of finding a new place, packing up everything we have ever owned, and reliving the memories that our old home may or may not hold for us is tough.  The bright side is that with the help of Above It All, AA or other 12 step programs we now have the tools to handle the stress this may bring us. The options that we have now that we have gone through detox and got sober are unlimited. whether its calling our sponsor to discuss how the move is making us feel , meditating, praying for clarity, attending  a meeting when the stress begins to build, or talking to your friends and asking  for help with finding meetings in the new area you will be residing in you are not alone. When looking for a new home it’s important that we find the nearby meetings in the area and become familiar with the time and locations. This will help in getting you connected to the sober community around you. It is also important that if we are moving far away that we get contacts from people so that we can have people that we can reach out to and check in with. The beauty of getting sober and receiving addiction treatment

is that we never have to go through anything alone. If we stay sober we can do anything we set our mind to if we are spiritually fit.

Caretaking in Sobriety

Whether it is our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or our children care taking of someone else is never an easy job, however it is one that we can now handle thanks to the tools we are given in Above It All, AA, or detox.  We are given many tools to help us in stressful times whether it is calling our sponsor to vent and find clarity, praying to our higher power to find inner peace, or attending a meeting to ground ourselves we are now able to work through our stressful situations while staying sober and incorporating the tools we learned from 12 step programs.  The gifts of this lifestyle are plenty and the fact is we are never alone. Being of service to our friends and family may seem taxing but it is a gift that allows us to get out of our heads and be of service to another human being. All too often in our using days we were selfish and only thought of our next drink  but being a caretaker gives us the ability to offer up compassion to a person in need.  

While working a strong program we are able to extend ourselves to helping someone who may have been the same person to support us on our journey to this beautiful life we are now able to live. Each time we open ourselves to helping someone it enriches our lives. We were given such a beautiful gift of sobriety and the best way to spread our message of experience, strength and hope is to reach out to those who now need us the most.  Most often it becomes a way of making a living amends to the people in our lives who we have wronged the most. Our parents, who we may have kept up late at night worrying about when and if we would make it home, the aunt or uncle who may have bailed us out when we got in too deep, or even the friend who spent nights up with us in hospital when things got really bad regardless of whom it may be we are caring for now being a care taker gives us the opportunity to give back to someone who has stuck by us no matter what and have seen our lives change for the better.

Starting Over Without Drinking

We all know life is like a roller-coaster there will always be highs and lows, while many times in the past we may have turned to drinking to handle these emotions now that we have received help from 12 step treatment programs and got sober  we are able to handle things differently. When we go to Above It All At Lake Arrowhead, AA, or addiction rehabilitation we are given the tools to help us cope with whatever comes our way. Whether it is a stressful day at the office or an amazing day with our child in the sun the idea of being in touch with our feelings may be a new concept to a lot of us. 

While we are used to drowning out the sounds in our head we can now turn to our higher power to find solutions. There is always someone available to help whenever needed. Starting over with a team of sober people to guide you is much better then throwing in the towel for a drink. Attending a meeting is a great way to get out of one’s head.  Hearing someone else talk about their struggle to get sober is a nice reminder of how far we have come. 

Fellow-shipping with fellow sober people is also another great way to surround ourselves with people who have been through the same struggles we may be facing. Regardless of the situation we now have the tools to cope with the ride we are on. We are beyond blessed to have such an amazing support group and it has all been made possible through the work we have done in order to achieve long term sobriety.

Southern California's Premier Inpatient Drug and Alcohol Rehab

Above It All Treatment - Our Mission

The Above It All Treatment Center mission is to provide comprehensive addiction rehabilitation and an unsurpassed treatment experience to our clients by challenging and inspiring a person to awaken within themselves a desire and commitment to change; he or she can build the foundation necessary to begin the journey of self-recovery.

Our rehab mission statement is based on proven addiction treatment methods and principles to promote healing and enhance the quality of life. Through the 12-steps, therapy, and our intimate group setting, individuals will grow and regain strength and character through an individualized addiction treatment plan created to meet his or her needs.

Staying Sober And Dealing With Family

Family members are a great gift but at times we can all be overwhelmed by the people we love most. It was easy to distract ourselves from our obligations to our family when we were using. With that being said now that we have received addiction treatment through AIA, AA, or other forms of addiction rehabilitation and are sober, we are able to show up.  We now have tools to deal with any overwhelming feelings that may come up for us when we deal with our familial issues. We also get the opportunity to right our wrongs and clean up the wreckage of our past. When we were using most of us were isolated from our family and entangled in this disease, but now that we have our life back we get to show up and give back to our family. We get to be present and loving. We get to repair our relationships and see what we can bring to the table instead of seeing what we can get out of the situation. Even the most broken relationships have been repaired through sobriety. If we continue to do the work it takes to stay sober we will be able to fulfill our obligations to our family. We were not the only ones that suffered from this cunning, baffling, and powerful disease. Now is our chance to share the gifts of sobriety with the people that stuck by our side, loved us, and who matter most.

Follow That Dream

Tempers Flare During and After Rehab

Anger is a powerful emotion, while it is easy to sit and stew in the misery, as sober people we now have the tools to process our anger without exploding in a fit of rage. While drinking may have shielded us from looking at the consequences of our actions, now with a sober mind and the help of Above it all Treatment, AA, or other Alcohol programs we are able to see the bigger picture. The actions we are used to taking may have provided some comfort in the past; however they often lead us down a dark path. 

One of the many gifts we are given in this program and through Alcohol rehab is the ability to see that a lifetime of joy is not worth trading in for a moment of anger.  We now have the opportunity to pause before acting out. this is one of the many things that separate us from the person we are compared to the person who we use to be.  When these feeling come up we are now able to reach out to our sponsors or another sober friend and process our emotions both calmly and collectively. We no longer have to be a prisoner to our thoughts and feelings. It is foolish to think we will not get angry because we are sober, however how we handle that anger is what counts. Doing our fourth step allowed us to see that most often we play a part in everything we encounter now armed with this information we are able think before we act.