Originally Posted by
2muchpain 
Well to be honest, it will be a pretty boring xmas without drinking. I have two weeks off with nothing to do except go to the gym. I did look into volunteering during Thanksgiving. It's a lot harder than you think to find anything. Maybe it's because of where I live. I live in a pretty small community so that might be the problem. Even volunteering a an animal shelter would be a little tough since the closest one would take around a hour to get there. John
Might involve thinking out of the box a little. But if there's a gym and a cinema nearby you can betcha life that there's be some folks needing a hand with one thing or another. My first sober Xmas period I just volunteered to marshal at a running event (I don't run myself, so it freed up a local runner to actually participate ). Not much perhaps but it punctuated my boredom and isolation at least and helped me to remember that while I was drinking, elsewhere others were getting on with 'life'in one way or another. It isn't always a charity or seemingly helpless people you can make a difference to. It might just be getting involved in community events, or helping a neighbour out somehow.
BB