Summary
The Sober Gay Guy shares an early game plan for getting through the holidays while working through an addiction, and not just alcohol. Whatever your thing is, this season turns the volume all the way up. So the plan gets made early, in November, with a clear head, because willpower is a terrible plan for a heavy season and a plan made in calm weather is the one that holds in the storm. If the holidays are hard for you, it is not because you are weak. It is because this season is heavy, and there is a difference.
Key Topics
Why the holidays are the hardest stretch of the year: the parties, the family tables, the empty chairs, the loneliness, and the spending.
Willpower runs out around day nine. A plan does not.
Naming your thing, because shame hates being named.
Your addiction has a holiday voice, and it sounds like a friend.
One: Know your triggers by name, and remember HALT.
Two: Keep your anchors, the routines and supports that hold your recovery in place.
Three: Decide before you arrive, instead of deciding in the parking lot outside the party.
Four: Line up your people. Bathroom texts have saved more recoveries than almost anything.
Five: Make the next morning matter more than the night.
Six: If you slip, it is information, not a verdict.
TJ's own plan this year: a boundary, a quiet place of peace, and gratitude.
For the listener who is mid-struggle right now: rock bottom is not a requirement.
One step taken in November can change how December feels. The season ends. It always ends.
Host: TJ Booth
Writer: TJ Booth
Sound, Production & Editing: TJ Booth
Sober Gay Guy Music: Adam Moyer
