Congratulations on all your hard work, making it to the point of being an alumnus. While your journey through sober living may not have been easy, you have accomplished a lot to get to where you are today. Be proud of the hard work you engaged in to get you to the point you are at today. Your accomplishments call for celebration, but your recovery journey is not over yet. As an alumnus, there are still many responsibilities and obligations that you need to uphold.
Obligations as an Alumnus
Reviewing the obligations of alumni, you can analyze your progress and see if you are on track to continue success in your long-term sobriety journey. Many of these obligations are not required and can be altered to adjust to your needs. However, assessing your current level of engagement can help you become self-aware of your continued commitment through recovery.
Remain Abstinent
One of your primary obligations as an alumnus is to remain abstinent from substance abuse, even after leaving a sober living home. Through your experience in sober living, we hope you have gained the skills to maintain sobriety and can apply them to your life outside of treatment and sober living.
At first, individuals tend to feel confident in their abilities to remain abstinent. However, over time when further conflicts arise, there is a potential for this confidence to fade. Keep utilizing your skills and continue to adjust them as needed to keep your abilities strong.
Recovery is not a temporary step away from substance abuse but a permanent alteration. If you find that you are struggling to remain abstinent in the future, come back and utilize the resources at our facilities to help reset your focus on sobriety. Continue to build a social circle of individuals that support your sobriety and will positively influence your decision to remain free from substance use.
Utilize Aftercare Services
Real Recovery provides aftercare services for our alumni to help them adjust to the transition outside of sober living and continue to seek the appropriate care services that they need. Our facility has an open-door policy for all alumni. If you need any extra assistance moving forward, we are here to help at any time. Utilizing these resources can be extremely beneficial, especially when hardships are encountered as you move forward.
Engaging in alumni groups and continuing to seek therapeutic services when needed is essential. Our aftercare program can help provide you with your therapeutic needs and services.
We highly recommend participating in our alumni groups. These groups can help you to obtain healthy relationships to continue building your support system and remind you of your goals and prior accomplishments. Keeping your mind focused on recovery as you move forward can significantly benefit your long-term success.
It can be easy to assume you can manage any hardship that comes your way on your own. Having this confidence is great. We encourage you to resolve any issues on your own. However, this mindset can disrupt alumni from seeking assistance when it is needed. If you feel you are unable to overcome an obstacle in your path or feel that you need extra assistance in doing so, do not hesitate to reach out to our sober living staff and seek help.
Retain Balance
One of the things you have likely focused on throughout your recovery journey is creating a state of balance. Having balance in your life allows you to have a strong foundation and build yourself up. Retaining balance is often easier to achieve than creating balance. Remember the practices you engaged in to reach a state of balance when working to retain this state.
Many of the same practices can be used to help you retain a level of balance within your life and avoid becoming overstressed in one area. Ensuring you are keeping up with your self-care and utilizing the holistic practices that you have learned about can help you retain balance within your life. Having balance can help to ensure you are managing your workload, school, social life, self-care, physical health, and recovery all at once.
If you find that one area of your life is lacking, try to temporarily increase the practices that associate with that need to regain your balance. The practices you need to uphold will likely change over time as your needs adjust. Consistently reviewing your overall life balance and making adjustments as needed can help you avoid getting thrown too far off balance. The better you retain a state of balance in your life, the chances of maintaining sobriety are improved.
Set Goals
You likely have set many goals during recovery and your journey through sober living. As each of these goals is accomplished, set a new goal in place. There is always room for improvement or another personal desire within your vicinity.
Continuing to set goals is a great way to keep your focus on your recovery and personal needs, leading you to future success. You may choose to keep some of your same goals in place at first to avoid too large of an adjustment. This is great to do as long as you continue to review these goals and keep them in place.
Just as you did in the early stages of recovery, it is essential to ensure your goals are attainable. Use the methods you have been taught to implement new goals moving forward. Provide yourself with some form of reward when you reach a stepping stone or full accomplishment of a goal. Write your goals down and review them regularly to keep them fresh in your mind.
Implementing goals is a life-long process. To achieve the best results and be your best self, it is essential to continue using goals and working towards them throughout your life.
Understand Your Needs
The needs that you have after leaving our sober living home will likely differ from your peers. Because each case is different, the needs of each individual are different as well. Understanding what your needs are can help you to seek the appropriate resources to adhere to your needs.
You may be able to locate necessary resources on your own, but many of our alumni need assistance in finding the appropriate services that are available in their situation. Our facility has access to various resources. Some of these resources include transportation services, employment services, and many other essentials. If you need help in seeking government assistance or a food bank, we also have the resources for you.
Review what your current needs are and ponder what potential resources may apply to your situation. If you are unsure what resources are available for your situation, ask one of our staff members to elaborate further.
Upholding Obligations
There are many techniques that you can use to help yourself uphold your obligations as a sober living alumnus. Review the following techniques and implement these practices to help keep you on track. Understanding your obligations is one thing, but being able to uphold them and continue your success can be another challenge. Each of these techniques can help to set you up for success in upholding your obligations.
Set a Schedule
Having a schedule is a great way to keep your priorities and commitments in line. You likely have a job, school, or other adulthood responsibilities throughout your week. Organizing a schedule to outline your time commitments for each of your obligations and adding your alumni groups and recovery needs into that schedule is a great way to ensure you are managing all of your responsibilities. You may also choose to add a to-do list to your schedule to keep track of your commitments and responsibilities that do not fit into a specific time frame.
When you attend a day of work or an alumni meeting, you can cross the item off of your schedule. Keeping a planner and physically crossing off the item can be extremely satisfying for some. As you look back on the week, you can see all of the tasks you have checked off and accomplished. Setting up your schedule at the beginning of each week can help you stay organized and on top of your commitments and organize your time efficiently.
Utilize Your Support
Through recovery and sober living, you have likely built a foundation for a strong support system. Your support system is not intended to just get you through recovery but to support you throughout the rest of your life.
Just as friend groups change over time, your support system may change as well. Initially leaving sober living, utilize the current support system you have built to help you adjust to your newfound lifestyle. Use your family as a support system as well to help you with your needs in this adjustment phase. You may also seek out individuals from recovery meetings or the community to be a part of your support system.
After leaving sober living, you can also use the services provided by Real Recovery after you leave to help you overcome any hardships that come your way. Staying involved with the sober living and recovery community can help to ensure you always have an extra form of support. This involvement can also help keep you accountable for your recovery moving forward to ensure you stay on track. Take advantage of the resources that are available to you.
Stay Motivated
We have many success stories from our sober living home alumni. You are one of those! Reviewing the success of others can help you understand the importance of accomplishing this journey. Use this motivation to help you continue your success moving forward and continue to build yourself up to the best version you can be. Whether you are one year sober or ten years sober, you have a lot to celebrate.
Stay motivated to continue your hard work, even after your sober living journey is over. To accomplish anything in life, motivation is essential. Utilizing practices to keep your motivation and commitment to recovery strong can help you avoid encountering a future relapse. You may be surprised by what you can accomplish with a little confidence and motivation.
As you accomplish your requirements through sober living and adjust to your newfound life, your recovery journey is not yet complete. It is important to celebrate the level of success you have reached but also be aware of the obligations you have to uphold moving forward. Be sure that you are still maintaining your sobriety, utilizing the services you need, retaining a state of balance, and understanding your needs moving forward. There are many practices you can engage in to help uphold these obligations, including utilizing your support system and the resources available, using a schedule, and maintaining motivation. To learn more about obligations as an alumnus, reach out to Real Recovery Sober Living at (727) 290-9156.
