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Friends In Substance Abuse Treatment Answered
Question1: Summer fun includes weekend BBQ’s and picnics. What’s your favorite summer-time beverage?

The beverage I enjoy is an Arnold Palmer: half ice tea and half lemonade.
~Art S.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie!
~Cindy G.

Lemon/Cherry or Limeade is always good. The best beverage on a hot day is a large chocolate shake.
~James R.

Don’t sample the punch until someone you know samples it first.
~Jerry P.

Strawberry and Raspberry Lemonades and Teas, Cucumber Water, Iced Caramel Macchiato and other iced coffee drinks, Honey Ginseng Lemon Iced Tea, Iced Green Tea with Spearmint/Mint Leaf....that’s just a few!
~Vance L.

I focus on all of the beverages “I can have and enjoy,” and do NOT focus on “what I can’t have.” Also I can bring a small cooler of my own choices.
~Kathleen U.

Orange or grapefruit juice with Club Soda and a lemon wedge! Really good!
~Tom H.

Lemonade! It is a great summer drink and still looks “cool”. In early sobriety, I always attended gatherings with a buddy to help me out and keep me in check; if not, I avoided those situations - not always the fun choice, but my substance abuse treatment and sobriety was the most important thing.
~Linda M.

On a hot summer day, I have to admit, nothing sounds better than an ice cold beer. Attractive as that may sound, I have learned to “play it out” in my head. I know all too well, how the story goes, and where it will lead. So I have learned to replace that with ice tea instead. Also, since pancreatitis is what about killed me a year and a half ago, I have acquired a taste for fruit smoothies. I even have one of those Ninja blenders, lol. Have a great summer!
~Tony M.

Water, Soda, and a drink from the fountain of SOBRIETY!!

Question: Summer is just around the corner - and there is typically a lot of partying. What can a newcomer expect and how will summer fun be different?

You will remember the fun and there will likely be a whole lot less drama involved.
~Jared M.

It’s best to stick with the winners. There are new substance abuse treatment and AA friends to have fun with and they will really understand where you are coming from.
~Marolyn G.

Most AA & NA groups in this area sponsor camp outs, suppers and speaker meetings during the course of the summer. Being an active AA member helps because there always seems to be somewhere to go or someone to go with.
~Joe F.

Change is just that-change. You can’t expect to change if you do not change what, where and with whom you associate. Change only occurs when you make the effort to evaluate each situation PRIOR to getting in it.
~Jay R.

I enjoy golfing, fishing camping and other substance abuse treatment functions throughout the summer. When I got clean, I thought all the fun and good times were over, but I learned quickly that they were just beginning.
~Dagwood C.

A newcomer needs to have the caution light on....to protect something as precious as sobriety. Pick and choose summer fun carefully. It’s important to not fall in to the stinkin’ thinkin’ of, well, maybe it wasn’t all that bad.
~Kelly F.

I know after several years sober, I spend my summers with close friends and family in non-drinking situations. These situations are much more comfortable for me and I wake up the next day not hung over and with no regrets. My prayers go out to all newcomers. It may be hard sometimes, but it is worth it.
~Heather H.

Outside of holidays, summer time was the hardest to get used to when I got through substance abuse treatment. When going to meetings, make an effort to get to know people and hang around with others who are sober. Getting involved is the key to making the sober life transition easier and more fun!
~Amy S.

My first SUMMER out of substance abuse treatment was my toughest. The FIRST is the scariest because it is fear of the unknown. How am I going to react? Will it be fun? Will I be too weak to say no? The Big Book tells us COURAGE is simply having FEAR and doing it ANYWAY! It is like going to your FIRST meeting. Once you get over the hurdle of the FIRST you begin to relax a little and before you know it you are actually enjoying the event.
~Libby H.

This will be my second summer of sobriety and until now I didn’t realize how much fun it is to actually get out and do things with my kids and husband sober. Love seeing the happiness in their faces when before I was just dying to get home and take that first drink!
~Cara S.

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