Seeking advice
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 6
Seeking advice
I'm not sure if I am posting this in the appropriate area, feel free to correct me if there is somewhere else to post questions.
I have two concerns regarding the lifestyle changes that I am about to take on..
1) All of my close friends are heavy drinkers, in the past when I have taken a break from drinking I had to cut them out of my life while I was trying to get sober. This left me feeling very lonely. I live in Seattle and was wondering if anyone can recommend ways to meet other sober people aside from AA meetings?
2) These close friends/co workers were also not very supportive of my decision to stop drinking in the past which made it even more difficult. My question is, how do I go about telling my friends that I need their support? And is it possible to stay in contact with them if they are not on the same page as I am?
Thank you!
I have two concerns regarding the lifestyle changes that I am about to take on..
1) All of my close friends are heavy drinkers, in the past when I have taken a break from drinking I had to cut them out of my life while I was trying to get sober. This left me feeling very lonely. I live in Seattle and was wondering if anyone can recommend ways to meet other sober people aside from AA meetings?
2) These close friends/co workers were also not very supportive of my decision to stop drinking in the past which made it even more difficult. My question is, how do I go about telling my friends that I need their support? And is it possible to stay in contact with them if they are not on the same page as I am?
Thank you!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: deep south
Posts: 58
Welcome HH. You're asking a question which I think you already know the answer to. You can't be around people who are not supportive of your plan to stay sober. It would be counter productive and set you up to fail. I don't think you have to tell them in the beginning, but that's youir call. There are many places to find people and friends who aren't drinking; the gym, church, etc. but that is going to be dependent on your age and lifestyle. I know that isn't much help, but maybe it's a start. Good luck.
Keeping it simple!
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Surrey, BC
Posts: 3,282
To be blunt, sometimes you have to change who your friends are. I won't be around anyone who doesn't encourages me or doesn't support me in my sobriety. In my opinion they are toxic and just trying to keep me down with them.
Staying sober was hard enough at the beginning least of all having people that put me down or didn't support me. I mean it still is hard somedays but at least it is getting easier. I changed everything, even quit my job cause I knew it wasn't helping me to stay sober. Very high stressed job and I just made it another excuse to drink. Doing hobbies now that I use to do and right now I have a simple life. Nothing complicated.
I have a few good friends and my family who are very supportive and these are the people I want in my life.
Staying sober was hard enough at the beginning least of all having people that put me down or didn't support me. I mean it still is hard somedays but at least it is getting easier. I changed everything, even quit my job cause I knew it wasn't helping me to stay sober. Very high stressed job and I just made it another excuse to drink. Doing hobbies now that I use to do and right now I have a simple life. Nothing complicated.
I have a few good friends and my family who are very supportive and these are the people I want in my life.
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