Preparation makes all the difference
Just as a summer beach body takes effort in winter, having a great, sober party season requires some forward-thinking and preparation.
The run up to Christmas has begun. Although it’s still only October, Christmas trees are already decorating shops; mince pies are on supermarket shelves and advertisements for party clothes are popping up in the media.
Luckily, if you have a problem with alcohol, this can provide the nudge needed to consider addressing your drinking before the parties begin.
The party season can be tough
Alcoholics and problem drinkers can find the holiday season tough. There are many gatherings to attend, family conflicts to navigate, financial pressures to manage and more.
It’s likely that, if control over your drinking has run away from you, you may be wondering how you’re going to get through Christmas and New Year without the chaos and carnage you fear may be lying in wait for you.
So it’s not too early to decide whether you want to start 2027 with an energetic new lease of life, or with more of the shame, regret and remorse you usually experience following party season drinking.
My clients recount stories from Christmases past that conclude with divorces, access denied to children, DUIs, stints in gaol, missed lunches and dinners, missed flights, arguments and punch-ups, job firings, hospital admissions and more. None of which they had planned would happen when they picked up their first celebratory beer or glass of champagne. Problem drinking is like that. It promises fun and relaxation, but it delivers the unpredictable.
Know which drink is the problem
The challenge is to not pick up that first drink, it isn’t about worrying about the fifth, tenth or twentieth.
Staying away from drink number one is a sure-fire way of not getting drunk.
But perhaps that leaves you with some questions, such as “how do I not drink when everyone else is?”, “how will enjoy myself without a drink?”, or “how can I get through a family lunch without alcohol?”
These are all really valid questions. But if you have them, or any others for that matter, then it means you don’t have the answers.
Getting sober means getting help
This is where you may need help because problem drinking isn’t solved by the problem drinker on their own.
And luckily, we’re still in October, so you have time to get the help you’ll need.
The best way to get sober, stay sober and be really happy about it, is to seek out specialist help and work the 12-Step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous. The combination of the right therapy and the support and guidance provided by AA is the proven way to free yourself not just from drinking too much alcohol, and the unwanted consequences that follow, but to also free yourself from the reasons you drank too much in the first place.
It works and it can work fast if you throw yourself in. Many people never drink again from their first meeting of AA, and they still enjoy socialising and all the fun life has to offer.
You’ll never regret a sober Christmas
If you can permit yourself to spend as much energy on staying sober as you do thinking about and planning your drinking, and dealing with the chaos, shame and self-hatred that follows, you’ll be well on your way to one of the best party seasons you’ve ever had.
So, how about giving yourself a gift this Christmas? Getting sober could be the biggest gift you ever receive.