The Christmas holiday season can be a very hard time for people who are early in recovery from substance abuse. For people who are still learning how to be free from using alcohol or other drugs, the holidays are full of hurdles they must clear to remain sober. Chances are we have spent dozens of Christmases in the past drinking or using other drugs to celebrate the holiday (or to dull the pain of the season). This means the season is full of triggers.

Nowcovery principle two has been developed from observing multitudes of people overcome obstacles and barriers to live a life that they feel happy about living. It is not the business of outsiders to judge someone else’s life to determine if it has improved to an “acceptable” level. We don’t know another’s story, nor do we know what they are going through internally. Nowcovery empowers us to determine if changes need to be made in our own lives, as well as determine whether we want to make those changes. However, we must be willing to conduct an honest inventory of our situations and behaviors.