Who said the sober living community’s way of doing things had to stop after we graduated?
It doesn’t!
The purpose of sober living is to prepare us for those “what’s next?” moments of our lives. We all have them. Maybe we return home to find that things have changed, and we need to pivot to get it all together. Maybe we find that living on our own, even after sober living, presents some challenges we didn’t expect to face.
One of the best ways to cope with unforeseen circumstances in our home life is to go with what we know: the sober living way. In sober living, we learn unity, self-reliance, and confidence through discipline, brotherhood, and collaboration with the men we live with. The lessons we learn along the way– things like punctuality, respect, and accountability– are all great ways to deal with almost everything life can throw at us afterwards, including what we may not think we’re prepared for.
The Big Book makes a very important point: “Until [we] could accept our alcoholism, we could not stay sober, [and] unless we can accept life completely on life’s terms, we cannot be happy.”
We accepted our struggle with addiction early on, and doing so allowed us to defeat it in treatment. Now, the only way to conquer life outside is to apply the same principles. We can’t expect that life will simply change for us, or that it won’t throw some things at us that may cause us to pause for a moment and think. We have to accept life on life’s terms, for all of the unsurety and lack of control it comes with. Once we do this, we can learn to navigate life with the skills we learned in treatment and sober living.
Sober living is like learning to swim, and life is like the sea. No matter the conditions, knowing how to swim allows us to conquer any body of water just alike. However, if we try to fight the sea, it’s easy to find ourselves struggling. The way to stay on top? Accept the sea for what it is. It’s powerful, it’s deep, and the current is strong. Then, let’s put on our goggles and not try to swim against it. Let’s swim with it.
The Last House is a men’s sober living facility in West Los Angeles. We help men backstroke through life’s oceans with ease, because we teach them how to swim in any environment. Life after treatment doesn’t have to just be lived. It can be conquered. Call 1-866-677-0090 to get started today!