Sober Christmas Rocks 12 Reasons Why
Could a sober Christmas be the best gift you give yourself and your family this year? We look at all the reasons to make your festive season alcohol-free.
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Don’t miss out.
My first sober Christmas was the happiest of my life. I woke up early and spent the morning snuggled up with a cinnamon coffee. I realised this was the happiest I had been on Christmas morning since I was a kid.
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Make the most of time with your loved ones.
Spending time with family can be both joyful and stressful. You might be tempted to drink too much to ease the tough parts, but you are more likely to make better decisions and feel good if you stay sober. Alcohol is a depressant and can intensify emotions, causing problems at Christmas.
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Enjoy everything else on offer.
A huge part of Christmas is the food. It can be harder to enjoy this when you feel poorly from drinking. You can also splurge on something special since you are saving money on alcohol.
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Invest yourself in something new.
One of the most amazing things about stopping drinking is how much time you have to spare. You can spend this doing something positive like exercising, catching up with friends or even just taking some time to yourself and relaxing.
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Make happy memories.
Christmas means many things to people. For some, it is caught up in a cycle of stress and unhappiness underpinned by alcohol. You may be tempted to drink to take the edge off, but a healthier way to heal is changing course and making new happy memories instead.
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Avoid the winter blues.
It is easy to feel down in winter, and seasonal affective disorder can leave us feeling low, anxious or bored, as can the pressure of spending time alone in the festive period. Alcohol is a depressant, and drowning your sorrows will have a knock-on effect of making your mood even lower. Brighten up your Christmas with a hot chocolate or a fancy mocktail instead.
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Relax.
You might think that alcohol helps you relax, but often it ends up having the opposite effect. Alcohol increases anxiety and makes you more likely to do something you will later regret.
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Save money.
Christmas is an expensive time, and with the cost of living at an all-time-high, everyone could use a little financial boost. Alcohol was already a big expense at this time of year. Now it is a bigger chunk out of your budget. Save your money for a different treat, or feel more relaxed about your finances.
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Meet new people.
Socialising and drinking are so often put together that we tend to stick with people who drink when we do. Stopping drinking can allow you to spend time with new friends who also don’t drink. Sobriety is on the up in the UK, with 43% of adults surveyed saying they had been abstinent for the previous week.
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Skip embarrassment.
Alcohol lowers our inhibitions which can be good in moderation but often leads to saying or doing things against our better judgement. Say goodbye to being a not-so-funny story or that horrible morning after cringing feeling by staying sober and enjoying yourself naturally.
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Hangover free.
When we drink regularly, hangovers become an old habit. You might be surprised just how good it feels to wake up after no alcohol when you take a break.
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A gift to yourself.
A better question might be, ‘why not?’ If you feel alcohol is making your life and your Christmas season less positive, you have little to lose by stopping or cutting down on your drinking. There are so many good reasons to stay sober, so what’s stopping you?