January 6: Getting Through the Weekend
The week had a shape to it. Work, errands, a schedule. Then Friday comes, and the hours open wide.
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Peter’s picture is blunt: a lion walking around, looking for someone to devour. Lions don’t attack the strongest animal in the herd. They watch for the one that wanders off alone, the tired one, the one not paying attention.
Weekends often find us exactly that way. Tired from the week. Alone with too much time. Around people who are drinking. Following routines that always used to end with a drink: the game on TV, the Saturday cookout, Sunday afternoon with nothing to do.
Peter doesn’t say to panic. He says be sober-minded and watchful. That is a calm word. It means knowing where the danger tends to show up and planning for it ahead of time.
This is part of the honesty of Step One. Admitting powerlessness isn’t just a feeling you have once. It shapes how you plan your Saturday. If you are honest that one drink sets off more, then you are also honest that a whole afternoon at a bar “just for the game” isn’t a neutral choice.
A sober weekend doesn’t have to be grim. It needs a little structure. Something in the morning that gets you out of the house. A meeting, if you can find one. A meal with someone who doesn’t drink. A plan for the hour you know is hardest, whether that’s five o’clock Friday or late Saturday night.
And it needs a way out. Know who you’ll call if the pull gets strong. Keep their number at the top of your phone. Lions hunt the one who’s alone. Don’t be alone with it.
One thing today
Write a simple plan for the weekend: one thing each day that gets you out of the house, and the name of one person you’ll call if it gets hard.
A prayer
Lord, weekends are hard for me. Keep me watchful but not afraid. Show me how to fill these hours, and bring the right people near when I need them.
Read more on Step One. For strong cravings, see this page.
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