Staying Connected and Breaking the Ice

If you’ve been reading my blog, and I certainly hope someone is, then it might seem I’m pretty up to my neck in the sober community. When I first got sober, going through rehab treatment, my declaration of NOT allowing this ‘sober stuff’ to take over my life seemed to almost come before my sobriety. Thankfully it didn’t. I had a great affection for my friends who I ‘partied’ with, and I couldn’t let that go. Not for anything. Little did I know they would be ‘intimidated’ by the fact I was getting sober. My personal belief was that if I was getting sober, they might have to look at themselves – birds of a feather and all that.

When I brought this feeling up in rehab treatment, my counselor, and those who had been through this before just nodded – I was such a newbie and just figuring it all out.

As I’ve shared in past blogs, I was getting sober on an outpatient basis. My rehab treatment came three times a week for a period of three months, I think It was a while ago, so sometimes those details escape me. And besides, I was on a bit of a pink cloud back then. I was getting sober, my head was clearing, and I thought I could conquer the world. After the three months I then began the once a week group therapy for an additional six months. But, that wasn’t all…it never should be. Rehab treatment alone is never enough for anyone. I attended a lot of AA meetings, as I identified more as an alcoholic than a drug addict.

This past weekend I was up in San Francisco for a visit. It is such a beautiful and eclectic city. I lived there for 9 years and enjoyed it as much now as I did then. My AA group up north is a wonderful mix of people, with tremendous and hard fought sobriety. It is always good to see them, as it’s like coming home again. Although I do the best I can to stay connected with people in the program up north, I sometimes fall short and lose track of them because numbers change, people ‘pick up’ again, and life continually flows forward. Thankfully!

If you are traveling to a new city, or going back to one you’ve been to many times, take a few moments and read up about their AA meetings. Most likely there are many, and be sure to announce that you’re visiting when you are at a meeting. It’s a great ice breaker for after the meeting!