12 Tips for Sober Holidays

1. Line up extra AA activities (help on the phones, speak, empty the ashtrays).


2. Be host to friends, especially newcomers, at home or at a coffee shop.


3. Keep your AA telephone list with you at all times.


4. Find out about holiday meetings or celebrations in your local groups.


5. Skip any drinking occasions you're nervous about.


6. If there's one you can't skip, take an AA friend--or keep candy handy.


7. Don't think you have to stay late (plan an "important date" in advance).


8. Go to church. Any church. And don't forget about extra meetings.


9. Don't sit around brooding; catch up on reading, museums, walks, letters.


10. Don't project about holiday temptations: remember "One day at a time."


11. Even if you cannot give material gifts, enjoy the beauty of holiday love.


12. Carry the message. Give the joy away, and it will be yours to keep.