90 Meetings in 90 Days: Starting Strong Now in Recovery

90 Meetings in 90 Days: Going through recovery is a process, and there are multiple trajectories possible for you to take. In-patient and out-patient rehabilitation programs are a tried-and-true option. Similarly, so is attending alcohol or narcotic support groups. Supplementing one with the other is even better for the reason that you are engrossing your post-addiction-driven self with habits and communities all about recovery and retaining long-term sobriety. Achieving long-term sobriety takes one day at a time, especially early on in recovery. Sometimes it takes actively trying to stay sober for one hour or even for one minute at a time.

The 12-Step Community

Twelve-Step programs, groups, and meetings all actively support your sobriety. Being new to recovery and joining a 12-Step program can be daunting. These groups, however, are welcoming to the newcomer. Many benefits coincide with frequent and consistent attendance, too.

Twelve-Step community involvement is a significant factor in retaining your sobriety. The more you create relationships revolving around discussion of strategies and resources of recovery, the greater chance you will have in long-term sobriety.

Consistently attending 12-Step meetings cements you as an active member. No longer is there the separation of “you” and “them,” instead, you realize that you are a part of the “we.” Twelve-Step groups help you recognize that accepting yourself and your addiction for what it is, plays a significant role in setting yourself on the right path toward long-term sobriety.

Are You New to Recovery?

Addiction is a progressive disease. That is the concept pronounced by 12-Step groups. We wholeheartedly agree. If you have once been in the throes of addiction and find sobriety for some time, returning to the bottle or substance use will result in a worse outcome — possible failure to find sobriety once again. Addiction is a progressive disease, meaning without treatment, it only gets worse, never better. Understanding this concept is vital for future success in long-term and even short-term sobriety if you are new to recovery.

When trying to recover from addiction, getting the best start possible is critical. You need a plan for your newfound sobriety that sets you on the right path for yourself. Though this does not guarantee you avoid hiccups or bumps in the road, such as relapse, having a plan increases your chances of success. Relapse is not a guaranteed part of the recovery process either. What, then, does a plan for addiction recovery look like?

Addiction Recovery Plans

We stated part of a recovery plan just a minute earlier — admitting yourself to an in-patient or out-patient program as well as joining some type of 12-Step group. These options provide you with both professional support and community support. Let’s take it a step further.

We recommend you work with a close medical professional, such as a primary care physician, a therapist, or a specialist because in-patient and out-patient programs are not long-term professionally-sponsored solutions. Instead, they give you a running start for the marathon of sobriety; whereas, these more personal options keep you running long after the start of the race.

Bringing Loved Ones Into Your Support System

We covered professional and community-based options for receiving support when in recovery. Look closer to home at support systems that include loved ones, such as friends and family. Relaying pertinent information to them regarding your recovery will help tremendously during your day-to-day. Your interactions with them are usually much more frequent than attending 12-Step groups or meeting with your doctor. If your loved ones know how to best support you, such as offering emotional support, or just someone to talk to about cravings and triggers, you will have a much higher chance of remaining sober.

For loved ones to better understand your recovery process, invite them to join you at an open 12-Step group. Open 12-Step groups host meetings that welcome both loved ones and persons experiencing addiction, versus closed 12-Step meetings are only available to the latter. Other 12-Step related groups include Al-Anon and Nar-Anon. These groups specialize as meeting places for your loved ones to better understand and relate to those like them — those who know someone suffering from addiction.

When seeking out support from loved ones, be aware and differentiate between healthy relationships that promote your sober future versus those that do not. Being able to rid yourself of those who engage in behaviors you are avoiding ultimately impacts the effectiveness of your recovery plan.

Why Go to AA or NA Meetings?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) are non-profit fellowships that welcome all people recovering from various addictions. There is no cost to join, and both remain the world’s largest known entities that support addiction recovery and long-lasting sobriety. These groups have no central governing figure; rather they support themselves based on their individual community’s donations and are led by group-elected members for various roles, such as treasurer or sobriety anniversary chip holder.

Twelve-Step meeting attendees are like-minded individuals whose collective greater purpose is to find independent sobriety and support fellow members as well. Members find sobriety through the 12-Step model that AA and NA have used for nearly 100 years. This model has proven to work for people of all ages, genders, nationalities, and economic classes.

AA and NA meetings expand your integration into the recovery community. Knowing you are not alone in the struggle to overcome addiction is pertinent to more deeply understanding why you experience it in the first place. Hearing firsthand the experiences of others who are going through, and went through, similar experiences as you will reveal coping strategies and methods for avoiding drinking and using in the future.

Sponsorship in 12-Step Programs

One particularly significant aspect of 12-Step communities is the idea of sponsorship. A sponsor is a person who also has experienced addiction and worked through the 12-Steps. Sponsors take on new members of the 12-Step program in order to help guide the newcomer on their recovery journey through daily communication, suggestions, and working through the steps with them in a one-on-one relationship.

Part of the reason members become sponsors is that it is a part of their own 12-Step journey. The twelfth step directs members to carry out the message of sobriety to others experiencing addiction and continue practicing 12-Step principles in all of their affairs. The twelfth step exists for the reason of stagnancy. After finishing the 12-Step process, the fear is that members become stagnant, forgetting or disregarding previous principles they learned on their 12-Step journey.

What Is “90 Meetings in 90 Days?”

The phrase “90 meetings in 90 days” refers to when members of 12-Step groups take on the challenge to attend 90 meetings in 90 days. The saying is reasonably self-explanatory, and 12-Step members challenge themselves to complete it as a way of first (or further) embracing the idea of recovery. Becoming immersed in the recovery-based culture of 12-Step groups acts as a substitute and solution for drinking or using substances.

The challenge is for various types of 12-Step members, if not every type. The most common 12-Step members to take on the 90 meetings in 90 days challenge include:

• Those who are newly recovering from addiction
• Those who experienced a recent relapse
• Those who want to strengthen their intention of recovery
• Those who want to replace the idea that their addiction controls them
• Those who want a way to solidify their place in recovery groups

What Are the Benefits of Going to 90 Meetings in 90 Days?

There are extensive benefits of taking on the challenge of going to 90 Twelve-Step meetings in 90 days as a person newly recovering from addiction.

As with AA and NA in general, you are likely to gain a sober support group by doing this challenge. If, too, you are unnerved about first attending 12-Step meetings, then by repetitively attending meetings, getting to know other members, and engrossing yourself in 12-Step resources and literature, you will become able to rely on your 12-Step group more as a whole.

Twelve-Step groups are commonly mistaken for carrying religious undertones. That is, in fact, not the case. Twelve-Step groups depend on embracing spirituality in order to gain closer contact with a higher power. A higher power does not necessarily mean a God, rather something that grounds you in reality, showing that your ego is not above all else.

Understanding the difference between what is good for you and what is bad for you is critical to better grasp the idea of a higher power. Differentiate through an unbiased perspective how your life is affected when experiencing positive changes versus negative changes.

Committing to Attending All 90 Meetings in 90 Days

If the challenge of attending all 90 meetings in 90 days appeals to you, and you want to be successful in accomplishing it, you need to incorporate several elements of mindfulness.

Starting off, think about your mentality. Is it positive or negative toward the journey at hand? A positive first experience with the 90 meetings in 90 days challenge encourages subsequent attendance.

You need to be disciplined and committed to complete this challenge. Addiction is persistent and deadly. You need to be as much of a threat to it as it is to you. You are unable to do that if you are unmotivated and undisciplined. What it means to engage in both of these behaviors is to reach the end of a goal.

Understand why it is you believe you drink or use. There is no avoiding it. Perhaps there are unresolved traumas from your past. When attending 90 meetings in 90 days, you may come to believe that the reason you drink alcohol is that you are indeed an alcoholic. That concept may seem quite strange or too straightforward, but you may find it to be the truth. There are several properties to addiction that affect both the body and mind. This strategy provides you with a deeper understanding of why you drink or use.

Starting strong in your recovery from addiction requires discipline and motivation. Attending 90 AA or NA meetings in 90 days is a good start; however, surrounding yourself with more resources, tools, and strategies never hurt. Here at Real Recovery Sober Living, we provide exactly that. With a supportive community similarly traversing the road of recovery, we help revitalize your life in a sober environment.

Work with us to develop coping mechanisms, address past trauma, and build new alcohol and drug-free relationships. Our program is constructed into three phases, aimed at identifying early and long-term recovery goals, how you can work towards those goals, and your reintegration back into the real world. When reintegrating back into society, developing relapse prevention skills is a must. Working with our sober living home to develop these skills will ensure your success in sobriety. Learn more about achieving long-term sobriety with Real Recovery Sober Living by calling (727) 290-9156.

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