St Patricks Day Support Thread 2019
Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Washington State USA
Posts: 79
Going golfing tomorrow with my youngest son, I have shamrock stickers for the golf balls. I was helping this 92 y/o Italian guy with some yardwork. When done he said he had a surprise for me and it was a gallon of his homemade wine. I told him I didn't drink and he looked at me like I had 3 heads. It was kind of a funny scene but I'm grateful that I don't care what people think about me so much anymore when I'm doing what I've been given the grace for. God bless the Irish and Italians which I'm neither but I've heard everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. I'll be on the greens not turning green from drinking and or drugging.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
you don’t have to drink to capture the luck of the irish!
contrary to popular belief, st. Patty’s day isn’t all about alcohol, and you don’t have to forsake your recovery to celebrate it. In fact, you can have a better time celebrating sober than you ever could drunk!
Don’t believe us? We’ll prove it to you by creating a timeline for the perfect sober celebration.
We hope the following timeline will inspire you to create your own alcohol-free plan. After all, it’ll be easier to abstain from drinking if you plan out all your sober activities ahead of time.
So, without further ado, here’s our timeline for the perfect sober st. Patrick’s day!
march 16
6:00 pm – attend a recovery meeting
don’t fool yourself into thinking you won’t be tempted to drink on march 17. Trust us; the temptations will come. But you can make it easier to say no to those temptations by attending a recovery meeting the night before.
At the meeting, you will be able to socialize with others and realize you are not alone in your struggle. You may even meet some new friends who will want to spend their alcohol-free st. Patty’s day with you! Knowing you have others supporting you will go a long way in making your irish celebration healthy and enjoyable.
8:00 pm – make plans to hang out with sober friends
it will be easy to slip up and get drunk on st. Patrick’s day if you don’t have accountability. So, find some pals who are just as committed to sobriety as you are and make plans to hang out with them all day. Chances are, there will probably be some willing companions at the recovery meeting you just attended.
Not only will hanging out with other people help you stay sober, but it will also be a lot more fun! Celebrating is always more enjoyable when you’re with like-minded friends.
march 17
9:00 am – go to a parade
spend the morning attending a parade with your sober companions. It’s a great way to capture that festive irish atmosphere and have fun without having to get drunk. You can appreciate the sights and sounds for a few hours and then duck out before the heavy drinking starts.
Of course, you should keep in mind that no parade or festival is entirely free of temptations. You may encounter some early morning drinking, which is why you should have an escape plan if you begin to feel tempted. Come up with the plan with your friends ahead of time so that you will all be on the same page.
1:00 pm – dance to great irish music
after a spectacle-filled morning, enjoy experiencing a bit of irish culture by learning traditional irish dance. You could attend an actual class or look up how to videos on youtube. Either way, this activity will be a lot more rewarding and less embarrassing if you’re sober. Not only will you learn something new, but you’ll also get some exercise and make some memories with your friends. Sounds like a good time to us!
5:30 pm – treat yourself to a classic irish feast
chances are, you’ll work up quite an appetite while dancing, and nothing fills you up quite like irish food! So instead of filling up on alcohol, why not devour a bunch of delicious irish dishes you don’t usually eat!
Team up with your sober pals to cook yourselves a feast of shepherd’s pie, corn beef and cabbage, boxty, and whatever other irish recipes you can find online. Our mouth is watering just thinking about that spread!
7:00 pm – stay in and have an irish movie night
after a long day of festivities, you’ll probably be exhausted. One way you could unwind is by inviting your sober friends over to your place for an irish-themed movie night!
You could check out the critically acclaimed brooklyn or the indie darling sing street. Or if you’re into campy horror, give the old leprechaun films a try.
Whatever you watch, we guarantee it will feel great to sit there knowing you managed to have a ton of fun on st. Patrick’s day without drinking.
see? We told you it’s possible!
https://www.the-other-side.org/spend...cks-day-sober/
contrary to popular belief, st. Patty’s day isn’t all about alcohol, and you don’t have to forsake your recovery to celebrate it. In fact, you can have a better time celebrating sober than you ever could drunk!
Don’t believe us? We’ll prove it to you by creating a timeline for the perfect sober celebration.
We hope the following timeline will inspire you to create your own alcohol-free plan. After all, it’ll be easier to abstain from drinking if you plan out all your sober activities ahead of time.
So, without further ado, here’s our timeline for the perfect sober st. Patrick’s day!
march 16
6:00 pm – attend a recovery meeting
don’t fool yourself into thinking you won’t be tempted to drink on march 17. Trust us; the temptations will come. But you can make it easier to say no to those temptations by attending a recovery meeting the night before.
At the meeting, you will be able to socialize with others and realize you are not alone in your struggle. You may even meet some new friends who will want to spend their alcohol-free st. Patty’s day with you! Knowing you have others supporting you will go a long way in making your irish celebration healthy and enjoyable.
8:00 pm – make plans to hang out with sober friends
it will be easy to slip up and get drunk on st. Patrick’s day if you don’t have accountability. So, find some pals who are just as committed to sobriety as you are and make plans to hang out with them all day. Chances are, there will probably be some willing companions at the recovery meeting you just attended.
Not only will hanging out with other people help you stay sober, but it will also be a lot more fun! Celebrating is always more enjoyable when you’re with like-minded friends.
march 17
9:00 am – go to a parade
spend the morning attending a parade with your sober companions. It’s a great way to capture that festive irish atmosphere and have fun without having to get drunk. You can appreciate the sights and sounds for a few hours and then duck out before the heavy drinking starts.
Of course, you should keep in mind that no parade or festival is entirely free of temptations. You may encounter some early morning drinking, which is why you should have an escape plan if you begin to feel tempted. Come up with the plan with your friends ahead of time so that you will all be on the same page.
1:00 pm – dance to great irish music
after a spectacle-filled morning, enjoy experiencing a bit of irish culture by learning traditional irish dance. You could attend an actual class or look up how to videos on youtube. Either way, this activity will be a lot more rewarding and less embarrassing if you’re sober. Not only will you learn something new, but you’ll also get some exercise and make some memories with your friends. Sounds like a good time to us!
5:30 pm – treat yourself to a classic irish feast
chances are, you’ll work up quite an appetite while dancing, and nothing fills you up quite like irish food! So instead of filling up on alcohol, why not devour a bunch of delicious irish dishes you don’t usually eat!
Team up with your sober pals to cook yourselves a feast of shepherd’s pie, corn beef and cabbage, boxty, and whatever other irish recipes you can find online. Our mouth is watering just thinking about that spread!
7:00 pm – stay in and have an irish movie night
after a long day of festivities, you’ll probably be exhausted. One way you could unwind is by inviting your sober friends over to your place for an irish-themed movie night!
You could check out the critically acclaimed brooklyn or the indie darling sing street. Or if you’re into campy horror, give the old leprechaun films a try.
Whatever you watch, we guarantee it will feel great to sit there knowing you managed to have a ton of fun on st. Patrick’s day without drinking.
see? We told you it’s possible!
https://www.the-other-side.org/spend...cks-day-sober/
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 96
Originally Posted by DriGuy 
Christmas is for Santa. Valentines is for lovers. Halloween is for dressing up in silly costumes. Saint Patrick's is for... well, I'm not really sure. On this side of the pond, it seems like a celebration of unrestrained drinking. Don't get me wrong. As an alcoholic, I thought it was a fine tradition, and I developed a loving respect for the Irish, who in my mind were important because they devoted their lives to staggering around slurring their words in an accent that I could hardly understand in the first place.
Interestingly enough Ireland is not even in the top ten for most alcohol consumed by country (per capita ratio). France tops Ireland and the eastern european countries lead by a mile.
Another fun fact...Nigeria consumes more Guinness than Ireland!
Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: US
Posts: 16,903
Saturday morning here.....recalling a St Patty's conversation at the pub one year, you know when people like to justify their drinking by claiming what "percentage Irish" they are....I said "I'm not Irish, I'm just an alcoholic" ~ and it made everyone laugh, but in hindsight I'm like Damn, I called myself out way back then!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 4,251
I quite like to dance and go to places with music (but not discos). I don't really care or feel triggered by particular holidays, not even Christmas or New Year's. My struggle comes up unexpectedly on just a random Tuesday.
I returned from rehab yesterday and am still int hat state where being in the real world is a strange feeling. I didn't have any food in the house having given it all away prior to leaving so I went to the bar in my village to get a coffee and brioche. I've explained before that "bars" here usually do coffee and breakfast in the morning and then later turn into a place serving alcohol. It isn't like an American bar with stools to sit on, etc. In any case, I was there having a coffee and they were setting up for the big St. Patrick's Day party they are having tonight. They said "Mera, we better see you tonight, make sure you come!"
Fortunately as I have zero interest in a party like that it wasn't triggering. But I took notice of it for sure.
I returned from rehab yesterday and am still int hat state where being in the real world is a strange feeling. I didn't have any food in the house having given it all away prior to leaving so I went to the bar in my village to get a coffee and brioche. I've explained before that "bars" here usually do coffee and breakfast in the morning and then later turn into a place serving alcohol. It isn't like an American bar with stools to sit on, etc. In any case, I was there having a coffee and they were setting up for the big St. Patrick's Day party they are having tonight. They said "Mera, we better see you tonight, make sure you come!"
Fortunately as I have zero interest in a party like that it wasn't triggering. But I took notice of it for sure.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: 45th Parallel, Michigan
Posts: 816
Heard a radio promotion yesterday in my car that dropped my jaw: our nearest local small city was having a "pub crawl" on Friday--hit all the downtown bars in a planned progression on foot, I'm assuming, having never been to one. Okay, whatever, promote local business, don't drink and drive...
It started at noon. Noon! Oy...
It started at noon. Noon! Oy...
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,408
Our parade and celebration begins at about 6:30am....right about now.
I've never seen it but I hear there is a lot of Irish Coffee being drank. Goes on all day and night. Falling on a Saturday I can only imagine what it will be like today. Drive safe, everyone and be very mindful.
I've never seen it but I hear there is a lot of Irish Coffee being drank. Goes on all day and night. Falling on a Saturday I can only imagine what it will be like today. Drive safe, everyone and be very mindful.
Ocean Lover!
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: You know nothing Jon Snow - UK
Posts: 2,604
Got 6 minutes to wait to get the wholemeal loaf out of the oven I baked after doing that bread making course last weekend!! The smell of warm bread is filling the house, I am drooling haha! It actually looks so far like a proper loaf...I might post a pic when it’s done. x
Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: South Africa
Posts: 1,536
Evening everyone!
Manta, I’m neither Irish nor even closely qualified to opine on any matters generally relating to the UK, but shouldn’t you have baked a soda bread instead
? That having been said, there’s nothing wrong with a freshly baked whole-wheat either.
Manta, I’m neither Irish nor even closely qualified to opine on any matters generally relating to the UK, but shouldn’t you have baked a soda bread instead
? That having been said, there’s nothing wrong with a freshly baked whole-wheat either.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,169
Originally Posted by trailmix
I don't think I have ever had a drink on St. Patrick's day but I will wear a green shirt and take a moment to thank him for his struggle and for being a fine Irishman!
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,564
Dee - I wondered if you were going to post the Kilkelly song - didn't find it until just now. I had my tissues ready. 
Respect for all those who bravely left their homes for the unknown.
Respect for all those who bravely left their homes for the unknown.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 96
Originally Posted by Zanna
Always makes me smile that the rest of the world celebrate St Paddy's Day so much. I was born in Ireland and we hardly notice it over here 
Have a great and sober day
Have a great and sober day
Surprised you had that experience. Maybe you were born in Ireland but to English parents? as I see you live in the UK, which is obviously not Ireland.
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