45 Things To Do Sober

The original title of this piece was “45 Things to do When You’re Broke, Depressed, and Trying to Stay Sober.” But I thought that was a little long.

Being broke, depressed, or trying to stay sober are all tough to deal with. Sometimes, you have to white-knuckle it, which really sucks. It’s damn hard.

Being all three at once? I don’t wish that on anyone.

For this MHM, I thought I’d share with you some of the things on my list of free, relatively simple things to do when you’re bored or at risk of doing something you might regret.

So, here we go:

1. Go to the local pet store and play with the animals.
2. Write.
3. Go out and take some pictures.
4. Draw something.
5. Color!
6. Look at old photos.
7. Drive around.
8. Go antiquing. (You don’t have to buy anything.)
9. Go listen to your community band play at the park.
10. Help someone.
11. Be nice to a stranger and make her smile.
12. Visit, call, or text someone who isn’t expecting it.
13. Send a card to someone you’ve been thinking about.
14. Take a walk.
15. Play catch or Frisbee.
16. Sit outside and enjoy the weather.
17. Do a puzzle.
18. Do a crossword puzzle, on paper or from an app.
19. Do a word search, on paper or from an app.
20. Remember “dot-to-dots”? They have them for grown-ups now. Scroll down a bit and look to the right for FREE printable puzzles.
21. Play whatever game(s) you enjoy.
22. Read for fun.
23. Go to the zoo (yes, this one costs money).
24. Put on some jams and clean. I highly recommend Spotify. You can find ANY song on that site! (Except Tool; for whatever reason [copyright-related, I’m sure], I can’t find anything by them.) They have a premium version for $9.99 a month, which has some convenient options; the free version is just as good, but you have to put up with ads.
25. Put on some jams and dance!
26. Do laundry (a necessary evil).
27. Bake!
28. Make dinner.
29. Start working on that project you’ve been putting off.
30. Do some yard work.
31. Go to your local home improvement store and enjoy the flowers they’re selling. Buy some if you can.
32. Water your plants.
33. Do yoga.
34. Go through the crap in your closet; either keep, throw, or donate.
35. Make a list like this for your own specific circumstances.
36. Write someone a letter – longhand.
37. Make a homemade card for someone special.
38. Play with your pets.
39. Take a nap.
40. Call your therapist, psychiatrist, case manager or someone else on your support team and talk about what’s going on.
41. Take your meds!
42. Have a cup of coffee, tea, Crystal Light, or iced tea.
43. Surf the internet. But stay away from social media if you need to. Watch cat videos instead!
44. Record your cat, dog, ferret, pig, iguana, or other pet doing something cute and post it.
45. Find something fun, cultural, or educational to do for free.
46. BONUS: Take yourself (or your family) on a picnic at a local park.
47. EXTRA BONUS FOR THE ADDICTED: Go to a meeting for support.

There you have it. This whole list, which I came up with off the top of my head, took about twenty minutes to write out. Maybe you can make your own similar list?

If you can’t come up with 45 (okay, 47) things, that’s okay. Come up with as many things as you can, whether you *feel* like doing them or not. Because someday, you will.

The whole idea of a list like this is to consider your options and see them in print. I tape mine to a wall in our bedroom. I even occasionally look at it! 🙂

I hope this list helps you find a thing or two that might help you get through the day.

Until next time –

Keep it Real.

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