The holidays compress everything recovery is built to handle — family friction, travel, parties with open bars, money stress, and grief for the people and years that aren't at the table anymore — into about five weeks. It's the season when AA slogans stop sounding like bumper stickers and start earning their keep. They survive because they're compressed instructions that still work when you're too stressed to think in paragraphs.
The slogans that earn their keep in December
One day at a time — you don't have to stay sober through the holidays; you have to stay sober today, and December is just thirty-one of those. HALT — hungry, angry, lonely, tired: the four states where cravings breed, and the holidays reliably produce all four at once. Check the acronym before you check out of a gathering. This too shall pass — the dinner, the argument, the craving. All of it has a clock on it. Play the tape forward — the fantasy is one smooth drink at the party; the full tape includes tomorrow morning and the phone calls you'd have to make. Watch the whole thing before deciding.
"One day at a time was built for weeks exactly like this one."
Darrel Wilson
Building your holiday plan around them
Slogans work best inside a plan. Before each event, know three things: your drink (something in your hand ends most offers before they start), your exit (drive yourself or have a ride you control), and your person (someone you can text one word to and get a call back). Keep your meeting schedule even when the calendar fights you — especially then. And if you're traveling, your counseling doesn't have to pause: our online sessions work from anywhere in California, guest rooms and parked cars included. If the season already has you white-knuckling, book a session before the next event, not after it.
0 thoughts on "Using AA Slogans to Deal with Holiday Stress"