It’s 2:00 a.m.
Nothing went right today.
You can’t sleep. Back in the day, you’d have known how to deal with this: A drink, a hit, a pill.
Your sponsor is visiting parents in another town. You probably should have gone to a meeting tonight, but it seemed like just too much effort.
You find yourself thinking of ways to get what you need– a bottle, a pill, a hit.
This is relapse thinking. You know that, but it’s not going away.”
This is a job for– Online Fellowship!
Fellowship is a powerful tool for maintaining recovery. Staying sober is hard. Fellowship promises us that we won’t have to do it alone: Others have been where you are. They’ll help.
Whether it’s the Big Book fellowships of AA or NA, or an alternative like SmartRecovery, or SOS, the connection with others living the sober life can tip the “relapse moments” back in your favor.
Even if you’re not a great typist, or don’t feel comfortable sharing with faceless strangers, you can still connect. Here are a few tools to reach the fellowship of recovery, 24/7, world-wide and year-round.
Sober Social Media
Most of the major social media platforms have a community of people in recovery participating regularly, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and the various tweet-type platforms.
Many of these platforms are active with recovering community members sharing information and encouraging each other at any hour of the day or night. Ask on the platform if there are groups, tags, etcetera that can help you connect to others in recovery.
Online AA Meetings
There’s a wide variety of AA meetings online, open and targeted (targeted or “specialty” meetings are focused on particular sub-groups of recovering people. Like women, or people serving in the military, etc.) You can connect with online AA at the Intergroup site here. There’s also an “online StepChat” schedule here.
Sober Blogs and Forums
Whatever problem we’re facing at our 2:00 am relapse decision point, it’s an almost certain bet that another recovering person has been there. They’ve shared it in a forum for people in recovery. And possibly blogged about it. Reading the stories of others, and knowing you’re not alone can make a difference.
Do some searches on “Most popular sober living blogs” or “addiction recovery forums” and explore a few places. Bookmark your favorites. Reach out for help, or (even more effective, sometimes), see if you can be there for someone else who needs help.
