It is often the stuff of novelty for a person who drinks comes across someone sober. Quite often, they are one of those irritable drivers. Most of the time, they are the well-behaved ones in the group. And there are also times when someone is out there just having an easy time after a terrifying hangover experience.
However, what is even more interesting is to imagine a person who is in recovery out at the bar or in a nightclub attending a party or any social gathering where you find most of the people indulging in their ‘poison.’
So, these situations can mainly be painful for those who are on their path to attending sobriety. So, let us look at five ways people going through recovery and sobriety can develop a strong coping mechanism and have a good time at a party.
1. Own Your Sobriety
Nothing can make you feel healthy about yourself than a strong sense of knowing what you are doing. It is a great feeling to be authentic and unpretentious.
You can start up by owning your sobriety and wear it on you like strong armor. It is only this way you start seeing it differently.
There’s no authority like that of owning who and what you are. Usually, when you are at a party and say that you don’t drink, you are bound to meet with some surprising eyes and confused faces. However, if you own it to yourself, you will find a strong sense of power and authority towards your sobriety. You must tell yourself that you no longer care if your abstinence is “surprising” or makes other people feel confused and uncomfortable. You must develop and understand that it is yours and yours alone.
It is when you own sobriety that you can stand firm in it.
2. How to Answer the Questions Raised at You?
Your sobriety can attract a lot of curiosity, too, along with confused stairs and condescension. So, you must understand that people who indulge in drinking do not surround themselves with a lot of sober people. This should make you realize that you are a sort of a rarity.
People will take a genuine interest in your wanting to know why you are doing what you are doing. And if you are open genuinely about what you are going through, then there are chances that you might connect with someone at a personal level too. Hence, you must mainly stay authentic and be confident about your sobriety.
There are a lot of questions that will be raised. One of them is, “Wow, were you that bad?” Well, how can you answer knowing how subjective “bad” is. You can carefully answer it by giving a generic response such as it could’ve been worse. Or you can also maintain a strong stance by saying, “Yes! I was bad enough; I needed to quit.” These answers are very neutral, and at the same time, it will enforce the people with a sense of confidence in you.
You might also come across, “You mean you’re never going to drink again? Not even sometimes?” or “Don’t you miss it?” and “Are you an alcoholic?” You will be put in a position to explain yourself better and find all the reasons to keep yourself away from those typical stereotypes. A lot of this is because of the portrayal of sobriety in media and films. However, you can stay strong and responds wittily, “I know better.”
However, you must also understand that you don’t necessarily have to explain yourself. You can deal with it in a clever and witty way.
3. Wherever You Are, Make Sure You’re There for a Reason
This is the most crucial point. You must know how silly it is for sober people to avoid bars and nightclubs. However, you must understand that wherever you go, there should be something for you. You might likely end up having a glass or 2 of whiskey if you don’t find anything else.
So, you must ensure that wherever you go, there is something there for you. What this exactly means is that you are going to a gathering, then being the only sober person in the room, you should have something to have fun with, such as close friends, the music you can dance off to or have soft drinks and mocktails.
This is the right opportunity to explore a wholly different side of you, which stopped you earlier with alcohol. You can socialize too.
Nothing is more important than the feeling of comfort and security.
4. Take Comfort in Your Sobriety
Lastly, you must understand why sobriety is working for you. Only then can you find comfort in it. If you have had a terrible hangover then you know how wonderful it is to be able to in the right mind and be able to go home and sleep in your bed and wake up in the right frame of mind.
You can now stay clean and sober and open an entirely new side of you. It will help if you tell yourself what beautiful gift sobriety is to you and how comfortable you are with yourself because of it.
