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Beach House Recovery Center » Blog » One Important Recovery Milestone to Celebrate: Sober Anniversaries
In the spirit of this month’s theme of celebrating recovery, I’ll be featuring four key milestones in recovery that are worth striving for and commemorating in fun, special ways. Broadly speaking, these recovery milestones break down into two categories: time and space, in terms of birthdays, holidays and other sober anniversaries; and, the attainment of critical skills that support your recovery.
Sober anniversaries (this week’s focus) fall within the first of these two categories: they are critical points in time and space that deserve to be cherished and set apart from your ordinary routine. And there is a strong evidence-based rationale for honoring sober anniversaries, be they that first birthday or Christmas sober, or the first year since you last picked up a drink, among other occasions. A study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress compared memories of a trauma with memories of a positive event, and found that memories of the negative experience exerted more of an impact than memories of the positive event. Other related research only confirms such findings. That makes positive memory building of crucial healing importance to anyone in recovery, for whom memories of traumatic events and negative consequences associated with drug abuse are common.
The beautiful thing about recovery is that you can come up with all sorts of valid excuses to celebrate (and, in turn, make positive memories). The more festive, pleasure-packed moments associated with recovery that you have on your calendar, the more you’ll be forming positive new memories with which to anchor a commitment to long-term freedom from drugs and alcohol.
You can start by marking your calendar and planning for the most obvious occasions when hoopla is a must:
These are just some of the smaller, meaningful sober anniversaries you might add to your recovery calendar, with the goal of populating it as much as you can. And, chances are that just one hour devoted to brainstorming all of the sober anniversaries you have to strive for, celebrate, and mark on the calendar, will be its own reward.
The icing on the top will be visualizing how you’ll celebrate each achievement, the only requirement being a fun and sober form of patting yourself on the back. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Here again the sky is the limit.
Whether you’re researching for yourself or a loved one, Beach House can help. We understand that this is a serious time in your life and that the treatment center you choose matters. We want you to feel comfortable and empowered to make the right decision for yourself, a friend, or a family member. This is why a counselor is waiting and available to answer your questions and help put your mind at ease regarding the next steps. Many of the staff at Beach House have walked in your shoes. If you feel you’re ready or want more information about how to help a loved one, we can help today. You can also learn why we are voted the #1 rehab for addiction treatment in Florida.
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