The Final Rule For Women In Recovery: Have Fun

“If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.” –Alcoholics Anonymous

Right before these sentences in the book, the authors refer to alcoholics in recovery in a way which has become one of the infamous “cliches” constantly used among the fellowship of recovery: we are not a glum lot.

Recovery is not a glum existence. Too many women fear recovery and sustained sobriety in their lives because they fear having a boring life. Drinking and drug use, for many women, involved a lot of fun. As women in recovery, we should never deny the fact that we had fun when we were under the influence. We certainly had reasons for continuing to use! However, it is imperative that we recognize drinking and using was not fun in the end. By the time recovery came into our lives, our drinking and drug use was painful, unfulfilling, and frustrating because no matter how much we drank, no matter how much we used, we couldn’t reach that same high or level of intoxication or fun again. All the fun was taken from our lives and all we were left with was an ingrained idea, an unending hope, that somehow, some way, some day, a drink or a drug might bring us a bit of fun again. We learn that this is never to be so and that even if we relapse after being sober for a time, we’ll quickly end up in exactly the same position.

One of our biggest tasks in recovery is learning how to have fun again and having fun together as women in recovery. We have to reprogram our brains to have fun and enjoy fun without the presence of drugs or alcohol and the best way to do that is together.

Everyone we are recovering with is undergoing the same challenge: to learn how to have fun in recovery. The best thing we can do for each other as women in recovery, in addition to leaving our judgments at the door, keeping each other honest, and supporting one another, is showing each other how to have fun again.

Women’s recovery programs created by women, run by women, made for women, are key to helping women navigate the many layers of their world both internally and externally. Created with the female experience especially in mind, the RedCliff Recovery program has been designed to help women believe in hope, live in joy, and find the freedom they deserve. For more information on women’s wilderness, call us today: 801.370.2274