Once we get clean and sober we often find that many of our old patterns of daily living aren't good for our recoveries or well-being. The places we use to hang out to socialize, drink, and use drugs are now the most dangerous places we can go if we want to maintain our abstinence. A common slogan heard at meetings is "If you don't want to slip, stay out of slippery places!" The safest way to deal with places like bars and taverns is to stay away from them. Some have tried to continue socializing in their old familiar haunts by drinking soda water, pop, or coffee, but this is doomed to failure. It's best to learn new ways to socialize and to work at building new clean and sober friendships. Twelve Step meetings are an excellent way to achieve this. There are times however, that a recovering person may not be able to avoid a slippery place. Perhaps a business engagement or a family gathering where wine is served. It helps if we spend some time and thought identifying those places and situations beforehand and figure out exactly how we plan to handle those situations from now on. Remember, recovering people ALWAYS have the right to say NO THANKS to offers of a drink (or drug). No one is obligated to pick up and use just because a drink, pill, pipe, or line, is placed in front of them. By setting recovery as our first priority we are taking the best possible care of ourselves.

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