Today, Monday, September 4, 2017, is Labor Day in the United States and Canada, a holiday when we celebrate workers of the past and the present. Funnily enough, to commemorate this celebration of labor, many workplaces shut down and give their employees a vacation day.
As you know, we can’t take vacations from everything in our lives. We can’t avoid our responsibilities to our loved ones. We especially can’t avoid our commitments to ourselves.
What does that mean? It means we have to take care of ourselves in order to live the best lives that we can lead. This includes constantly committing to sobriety if we’re recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.
Some people might think that if they go to rehab, they’re cured and don’t have to do anything more. Unfortunately, that’s wrong. If anything, people have to take more effort, because it can be difficult to live new everyday lives while sober. Despite their best efforts, many people relapse.
Sobriety requires work. People who have successfully completed rehab may find themselves in situations that prompted drug and alcohol abuse in the past. They may also encounter people who enabled their substance use disorder. Or, they may find themselves in the presence of drugs and alcohol.
Just because people have sought treatment doesn’t mean that their temptations to use drugs or abuse alcohol will permanently end. People in recovery have to work to fight these temptations.
This work can take many forms. It can involve
- Making new friends and participating in social activities that don’t revolve around drugs and alcohol.
- Attending the meetings of groups dedicated to helping people maintaining their sobriety.
- Meeting with therapists to discuss temptations and develop tools to help fight them.
As with many things in life, recovery and sobriety require work. But it’s work that’s worth it.
