My Recovery Journey - Fun in Recovery (3 of 4)

My Recovery Journey


Fun in Recovery 

Once I had the foundations of a 12-step programme in my life and had experienced continual sobriety from drugs and alcohol and recovery for several months, it was time to build a new life. I mentioned in my previous blog about some of the wonderful new activities and hobbies I embarked upon, so I thought I would share some of the pictures and stories to encourage more people to follow suit. I was told that if I didn’t build a better life for myself and my family than the one I had before, then I was sure to relapse and return to my old ways.

At 90 days sober a family member was having to move on a puppy, a beautiful wee King Charles. I had never had a dog but decided to say YES, one of the best decisions in my recovery journey. A bromance was about to blossom and a great reason to get me out in the great outdoors.

I remember sitting in a Friday night meeting when I was around 9 months sober, chatting to another recovering addict who would become a good friend in the fellowship. He was a single guy so was struggling with ideas on what to do with his new found sobriety, so I said “we can do just about anything, it’s just drink, drugs and dishonest activities we must refrain from”. We started talking about holidays, and before we knew it, we had booked our first sober holiday……..to IBIZA 😊. It was time to put some action behind those words. It resulted in the best boy’s holiday I have ever been on. Some pictures of me hiring a quad bike for the week to get around the island, hiring jet-skis, watching the sunset from Playa d’en Bossa, and chilling in the pool. Check out the grin, it doesn’t look like a guy struggling with sobriety 😉.




It’s vital for long-term sobriety that you meet some people on the same path as you. Having friends who also don’t drink, led us to finding new ways of having fun. Some of the next photos was us having fun at Nae Limits in Pitlochry. Some canyoning, river tubing, river swimming at Nae Limits

Canyoning


River Tubing

I celebrated 6 years of continuous sobriety on the 1st of March this year, and my journey of fun in recovery has taken me to New York (Twice), Philadelphia, Ibiza (Twice), London (Twice), Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, and several trips around the UK, and counting.

Life only begins when we get sober. For more blogs on staying sober, why don't you check out 'Sober Gal' https://sober-not-boring.blogspot.com/2023/02/deciding-to-be-sober-gal.html

This blog is 3 of 4. You can read my earlier posts - Blog 1 -The Beginning of the End, Blog 2 ‘Early Sobriety’, or wait for the final one – Blog 4 ‘Pushing Beyond My Fears’.


Comments

  1. Derek Mccluckie19 March 2023 at 11:18

    Loved all your blogs

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen Wallace19 March 2023 at 13:03

    Great story! I love your enthusiasm for life since sobriety. Such an inspiration 🙌🏼 and great advice

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elaine Higgins19 March 2023 at 15:58

    Amazing, John. Sounds like the best decision you've ever made. You've discovered a whole other world out there waiting to be explored that you otherwise would never have known. Good on you 👏

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous20 March 2023 at 01:19

    Fantastic blog (and way of living 😊)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous23 March 2023 at 09:15

    Another great, inspiring read. You’ve did more exciting activities than I have! It shows you how different life can be. Definitely forces us to consider what we’re doing, what choices we make.

    ReplyDelete

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