Weekend survival - plan your entertainment. Weekenders 21-23 July
In the last year to 18 months before I quit on 30th December '14 I was drinking so much that I mostly drank alone as I did not want to alert people to how much I was drinking. Before then most of my social life revolved around alcohol one way or another.
If this is true of you then it is a good idea to plan your weekend, especially if you are new in recovery because those displacement activities keep the cravings at bay. It is also important to avoid finding yourself bored with nothing to do as that is when the drinking or drugging impulse will strike.
It takes some thought or planning because for the confirmed drinker even something as innocuous as going to the cinema would usually involve drinking at some point so here are a couple of tips to make life easier:-
It is a good idea to have a stock answer to the curious who want to know why you have quit. I found that simply saying "I was drinking too much"can put people on the defensive and may draw you into an unwanted debate. These days that question is rarely asked but my answer to it is "I was scaring myself with the amount I was drinking" This is both true and does not challenge anyone else's drinking.
It is stating the obvious to say it is important to stay away from your fellow drinkers and once again this is especially true in early recovery. That said, if you really really have to go somewhere alcohol is being served then drive if you have a car. It is much easier to remain sober when you have responsibilities and it will reinforce the impression to your friends that you are serious. They will be appreciative of any lift home on offer too.
Don't stay more than an hour, 90 minutes tops. That is as much time as anyone needs in the company of drinkers when you are sober (it really is)
Lastly, avoid at all costs situations where drinking is the only activity, it is like feeding steroids to your Addictive Voice (AV). It is easy to get sucked in to going for a drink after some other non drinking activity so make it clear that you will not be going
If you do slip up, don't beat yourself up, it does absolutely no good. Just reset the calender and carry on the next day. If you really want to, you will.
I hope this OP doesn't come across as too hectoring in tone, it's just that a little bit of preparation can make the weekend a whole lot better.
Let's have a grrrrrrreat weekend!