Sudden Stress and Sobriety: It’s About Preparation

You can only plan so much – occasionally life throws things your way that are really tough. A loved one gets unexpectedly sick. Here in California, wildfires encroach on peoples’ homes. Life is not predictable, and it certainly isn’t easy.  The important thing is our reaction to stress.  If the first thing stress triggers is a desire to drink, that’s a big red-light danger signal.

Developing a strong base of support in meetings, having a sponsor, focusing on healthy stress relievers such as exercise, meditation, and meetings builds a buffer between us and that drink. Think of it as “conditioning” so that when major, unexpected life events that cause enormous stress occur your first reaction is not to have a drink.

One of the risks of not “conditioning” in this way is that I can become complacent. Life is humming along, everything is hunky dory.  No cravings, no thoughts about relieving stress with alcohol or drugs.

But if I’m also not prepping myself for that inevitable “bad event” that occurs in everyone’s life at some point, I put myself at risk for falling back on the thing that I once thought helped me: alcohol.

Recovery is about being able to deal with all life has to offer without resorting to drugs or alcohol when stress, anxiety, sadness and other feelings come up due to life events. It’s not something I take lightly.