20 Fun Things To Do Instead of Drinking

May 5th, 2011 | Add a Comment

Getting drunk used to be such a great idea. It made our nights out more enjoyable and it made us more sociable with friends; it made us feel happy when we were sad and made us feel calm when we were nervous. But now that we have come to recovery, drinking is not only a bad idea, it is no longer an option if we wish to live a life a serenity, happiness and peace.

There are many other things we can do besides drinking to make us feel happy, accomplished and free; however, those activities can seem a bit vague in early sobriety. In our addiction, our best thinking got us drunk; now that we are in sobriety, our best thinking needs a little time to catch up to us. If you are having trouble finding fun and enjoyment in sobriety, here is a list of twenty extraordinary things to do instead of drinking:

1. Fly a kite during a thunderstorm
2. Play with puppies at the pet store
3. Create an exercise that combines yoga with the game “Twister”
4. Write a novel about your amazing life
5. Make a list of your own original ice cream flavors
6. Go skydiving naked
7. Discover a new species of dinosaur
8. Sing in public places
9. Go to restaurants masquerading as a food critic,
and see how many free meals you can get
10. Tell a stranger that you love them
11. Watch people get tattoos
12. Take photos of speed limit signs that don’t end in
a “0” or a “5”
13. Have a staring contest with your cat
14. Try to count as high as you can in one minute
15. Name each of your freckles
16. Speak only in limericks for one whole day
17. Imagine ten impossible things
18. Write a song about grapefruits
19. Shave your head and donate your hair to a wig shop
20. Go trick-or-treating, even if it’s not Halloween

Having fun in sobriety requires some imagination and creativity. We get sober to live and to do things we could never do while in active addiction. Why not make your own list of twenty things to do instead of drinking, and see how many of those activities you can accomplish? You’ll be amazed before you are halfway through.