Getting clean is a big deal, and at first, your primary goal in recovery is to live one day at a time. Treatment and 12-step meetings probably made up most of your days in early recovery. But once you’ve been clean a while, you may become restless. Boredom can be a big trigger for relapse because a lot of people naively believe that it’s impossible to have fun in recovery.
There’s plenty of fun to be had when you’re clean and sober, depending on what you enjoy. Getting to meetings and therapy still should be the core of your lifestyle, but there are other ways to have fun that support you in your journey. There are a lot of ways to have fun in recovery, but sometimes it’s not so obvious when you feel stuck in a rut.
Here are 15 ways to enjoy your life in recovery:
- Go to the movies. Or have your own movie night with clean and sober friends, complete with popcorn and other treats.
- Go to sober events. Many 12-step groups host sober events such as barbecues and dances, especially around holiday time. This is an excellent way to meet new people, too!
- Choose a way to stay fit! Lots of people find life less stressful when they get exercise or participate in sports. Find out about events near you.
- Have your own barbecue. Invite your sober friends and family.
- Start a garden or grow a plant. These nurturing are skills that you can take with you everywhere.
- Go bowling with a few friends.
- Take a class or watch Youtube videos to explore yoga. Yoga is good for body tension, and stress relief. It’s a top where you’ll learn stretches and other methods to relax.
- Learn to meditate! Like yoga, meditation can help relieve stress.
- Get a haircut or style. Lots of people forget to take care of themselves when they’ve been using drugs. Now that you’re clean enjoy visiting the salon when you’re able to.
- Go bargain shopping with friends.
- Borrow a dog and take him to the dog park.
- Relax at the beach. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with relaxing every once in a while.
- Read a book. Whether you like self-help books or mystery novels, reading is a pleasure when you’re coherent enough to do it.
- Go surfing. Or have another outdoor adventure. When you were using, it probably wasn’t safe to do this.
- Helping others can be a lot of fun, and you’ll meet people who share the same values with you.
…and more.
These are just a few ideas. There are dozens of other things that could be included on this list. Whatever hobbies you had when you were using, you can probably still do when you get sober. Try to do things with other sober friends or family members if you’re not ready to try new things on your own.
Recovery is at your own pace, but you shouldn’t expect it to be difficult all the time, and certainly, it’s not miserable. If you’re not sure what to do for fun, ask others what kind of things they do. Trying new things can be a lot of fun, too and it helps you get to know people.