Creating a Sober Life with Sober People

In 2007, Scott Strode started offering sports and adventure programs for those in recovery at Phoenix Multisport in Boulder, Colorado. Strode is no stranger to addiction as he started drinking at age 10, was doing cocaine by age 15 and was a full-fledged addict by college. Waking up one day on the bathroom floor and realizing if he didn’t make a change someone was going to find him there dead from an overdose spurred him towards sobriety. He had the guts to leave his entire social network behind because they were all involved in drugs and look for a better life.

The first three months of recovery were depressing and lonely until he started boxing, rock climbing and eventually training for triathlons. He built a new social network of people who, in his own words, “would rather get up at 7 in the morning to climb a mountain than to stay up until 7 in the morning drinking and using.” With such positive influences in his life Strode wanted to reach out to others trying to find their way in a newly sober world. He founded Phoenix Multisport five years ago, named after the mythical bird rising from the ashes, and has already provided sober physical activity programs for over 4,700 people.

Make Sober Living Fun

Strode has the right idea — incorporating healthful activities and positive people into your recovery can help you to avoid relapse, but how do you find people who fit the bill? Every new activity you try can bring with it a new social network – and since you met them at a new activity, you immediately have something to talk about and something in common.

Not sure what to try first? The key is to choose something that almost requires you to be clean and sober. This will not only help you to avoid relapse but increase the odds that other participants are clean and sober as well. Prepare to try a bunch of different options and move on to something new if you feel uncomfortable or find that this particular group of people likes to drink after a game or meet at a bar before classes. Try online meet-up groups or local community colleges, ask for suggestions at your 12-step meeting, or talk to your therapist about positive choices you can make that will help open up your world to new activities and new people.

What’s Your Sober Activity of Choice?

What is your favorite sober activity? Leave us a comment below and tell us how you avoid relapse and keep busy at the same time.