Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes In Early Sobriety

New sobriety is hard. Real hard.

There is no reason to sugar coat it. If it were easy, everyone who needed to be sober would be. Not only would they get sober, but they would stay sober.

I am by no means a recovery guru. I am a young man and I have been sober for a few years. Certainly enough time to have built up some experience in recovery.

I have seen many people relapse and I’m sad to say I have seen the same mistakes made over and over again. It sucks. A lot of these people I never saw again.

If you are new in sobriety, take this seriously. You may be thinking “that will never happen to me.” But trust me, if you take a bad shot of heroin, you will die… just like everyone else.

Avoid these mistakes in early sobriety and you won’t have to worry about that.

1. Not Having A Sponsor

Some people love A.A. Some people don’t. None the less, a sponsor or even a mentor has huge value. If you don’t have a sponsor, you are doing yourself a huge disservice.

RELATED: 4 Qualities To Look For In A Sponsor

Whenever I am in my head, it is so important for me to have someone to run my thoughts by. After talking to my sponsor, I quickly gain perspective and I realize that many of the fears in my head weren’t even real in the first place.

Get a sponsor. Get someone to talk to. Don’t be stubborn and don’t let your ego get in the way. Just do it.

2. Getting In A Relationship

Look… this is not a black and white statement. A relationship in early sobriety does not guarantee you will relapse. But it does increase your chances.

When you are getting sober. Your emotions are out of control. Most of the time, newcomers don’t even realize how emotionally unstable they are. From an outside perspective, I can say with 100% certainty, that getting in a relationship is a bad idea.

Am I going to tell you not to do it? No. You are your own person, you are free to make whatever life choices you want. I’m just telling you, don’t be surprised when you break up and don’t be surprised when it hurts.

That hurt has lead to countless relapses. I’ve seen it over and over again.

Just give it some time. Get sober. Get your head and your heart together. When you have emotional stability, you will make a better boyfriend or girlfriend anyway.

3. Making Money Your Higher Power

It is important to be clear on this subject.

I am not a believer that money is evil. I believe that money can bring options and can bring freedom. Part of getting sober is having the freedom to earn money and to earn the chance to buy yourself whatever you want. Sobriety has taught me great lessons in money management. This is all positive growth.

The problem arises when people mistake money for happiness.

When addicts stop doing drugs, they are still craving some sort of instant gratification. Nothing fills that void quite like a fresh paycheck.

People don’t realize, money comes and goes. Money does not control you. You control your money. Once money becomes your means for gratification, you are in trouble.

Make money. Make as much as you want or as little as you want. I am saying that your sobriety should be your first priority. If you keep it that way, money will be easier to manage and it won’t consume you like it does so many other people.

4. Not Getting A Support Network

I was so guilty of this.

I will only speak for myself, but I am sure there are those who can relate.

I like to isolate. I enjoy being alone. I spend most of my free time by myself or with my dog. I can’t help it, I’ve always liked dogs more than people.

The trouble is that we are social beings. We are spiritual beings. Somewhere in the makeup of my DNA there is a calling to share my time and my soul with other people. I am compelled to give love and be loved. Isn’t that what we all want?

Isolation is a huge mistake in early sobriety. It doesn’t need to be. I have learned that people really aren’t as scary as I made them out to be. Some of them are just as anxious as I am and are actually grateful that someone like me went up to them and said hello.

You are not alone. There are 7 billion people in this world. It is arrogant and foolish to think that none of them can relate to you or understand you.

Share the love peepz!

5. Taking On Too Much At Once

Raise your fists in the air! You have 30 days sober! You can do ANYTHING!!!

HEAR ME ROAARRRRR!!!!

Slow down cowboy.

When my grandfather died, he died with 30 years of sobriety. He and I would speak from time to time about my recovery and he would simply listen to me and give me good advice. One day he said something to me that I will never forget.

He told me that..

“slow is beautiful.”

At the time, I didn’t quite understand what he meant. I knew his suggestion for me was to take my time, but I didn’t understand why. I didn’t understand why going slow is actually better than moving quickly. I have since learned.

What my grandfather was telling me was that it is important to enjoy the journey. As I have gotten older I have learned that the destination means little. It is the journey that counts.

Reaching a destination or achieving a goal is great. However, it is not until after the moment has passed that you realize the destination wasn’t the fun part. The fun part was the experience and the lessons in getting you there.

Don’t fall into the trap. Try to avoid convincing yourself that you are not good enough or that you aren’t moving fast enough. Slow is beautiful.

Take your time. In all actuality, it takes at least a year to even start to settle into a sober and calm lifestyle. When I had a year clean I thought I was the champion of recovery. Now, with almost 6 years clean I feel like I know less than ever.

Enjoy the moment. Take your time. Relax. Don’t be hard on yourself. Enjoy the journey because one day you will wake up and ask yourself where the time went.

Just Don’t Drink

We all make mistakes.

I’ll tell you a secret. I made every one of these mistakes in early sobriety. Every single one. The only reason I know they are mistakes is because I made them myself and looking back I see how I created myself more pain.

At the end of the day, just stay sober. Just get through the day without picking up a drink. If you do that you have a chance to learn from your mistakes. If you stay sober you have an opportunity to live your life.