Your Roadmap to a Sober Halloween
With Halloween only two weeks away, many people are counting down to a spooky holiday that typically includes more treats than tricks. Over the years, All Hallows’ Eve has gradually shifted from a strictly kid-centric occasion to a justification for adults to indulge in drugs and binge drinking. If you’re working to preserve your sobriety this Halloween, how can you navigate this holiday without jeopardizing everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve?
1. Throw a Sober Halloween Party
Attending a typical Halloween get-together might represent too much of a temptation for you, but you shouldn’t stay home feeling sorry for yourself. Instead, organize a sober gathering and invite supportive friends and family to attend. When you can control every aspect of the get-together, there’s no risk of running into unexpected peer pressure to drink or use drugs. Deck out your home in artificial cobwebs, put on some upbeat Halloween tunes and challenge your guests to wear their most creative costumes.
2. Sign up to Volunteer
Giving back to your community is one of the best ways to stay busy and avoid negative triggers like stress and loneliness that could put you in danger of a relapse. Volunteering can boost both your mental and physical well-being, while helping you meet new people and giving you a healthy hobby. Reap the rewards of volunteerism on Halloween by signing up to work at your local food bank, homeless pet shelter or community center.
3. Get Scared
If you love the spooky thrills and chills Halloween brings, find a local ghost tour or haunted house and treat yourself to some haunting happenings. You could also organize a horror movie marathon with classic or more modern films. How scary you choose to get is up to you.
4. Attend a Meeting
If the idea of a sober Halloween is especially triggering for you, seek the fellowship and camaraderie of your recovery group. While it may be a far cry from the hard partying you enjoyed in years past, a meeting will bring your recovery goals into sharper clarity and remind you why you chose to work toward lifelong sobriety. Hearing others’ stories can help inspire you, and you never know who might benefit from any wisdom you have to share. You can keep the Halloween spirit alive by filling small bags with candy and offering them to other meeting attendees.
5. Make It a Family Affair
Your active addiction harmed many of the relationships in your life, especially your connections with your family members. If you’re working to rebuild damaged trust, one of the best things you can do is spend your sober Halloween with family. Make up for years past where you weren’t there for them by showing them how grateful you are to be able to share the holiday together. If you have young kids, use the opportunity to take them trick-or-treating, help them safely carve a pumpkin and enjoy the simple nostalgia of memories from your childhood.
6. Reflect and Remember
While most of us associate Halloween with mischief-making and overindulging in candy, the ancient Celtic origins of this holiday are quite different. The Celts believed Halloween represented a turning point in the year where the veil separating the worlds of the living and dead was at its thinnest. On this night, the deceased could cross back over to the world of the living to visit with their family members. If you want to return to the roots of the holiday, you could spend your sober Halloween honoring the memories of loved ones you’ve lost. Think back on everything you learned from them, and how you can apply it to your recovery journey.
Planning Your Sober Halloween
Whether you choose to spend your Halloween hosting a gathering, going to a haunted house or staying home for a quiet evening of reminiscence, stay true to yourself. In recovery, every day brings new opportunities for self-discovery. Apply this philosophy to your sober Halloween, and you’re sure to have a good one.
Find Your Freedom
If your goal is to get sober by the time next Halloween arrives, now’s the time to call Beach House’s compassionate admissions counselors for your confidential consultation. We’re waiting to hear from you at our multi-accredited addiction center in beautiful Florida.