Overcoming an addiction takes strength and commitment. It also takes change. Once you have made a conscious decision to live addiction free, there are changes you can make in your life to make it a reality. Here are tips on living an addiction free life.
Talk About It
Hiding your struggle with addiction can place a lot of pressure on you and can interfere with the healing process. Communicate with your friends and family and let them know what is going on in your life and the challenges you are facing. Having their support and understanding can assist you on your journey.
Change Your Environment
Remove yourself from environments that can create negative associations or promote addictive behaviors. Move your social engagements from bars and restaurants and spend more time in cultural spaces or coffee shops. Instead of going to a place you have been before where you could find yourself in the direct line of temptation, choose a venue that is new to you where you will feel less pressure to engage in the destructive activity.
Reevaluate Relationships
One of the more difficult parts of recovering from addiction is taking an honest look at the people surrounding you. Reevaluate whether those in your life enable your addiction or are supportive of your recovery and only keep the latter in your life.
Get Moving
Begin an exercise regimen that includes an hour or so of cardio activity multiple times each week. This will allow your body to become stronger while also strengthening your mental well-being. It can refocus your mind when your will becomes shaky. Whether you opt to use a personal trainer to get started or choose to create a regimen on your own, the important factor is that you get your body moving.
Improve Your Diet
Place a focus on your diet to ensure a nutritional balance that, like exercise, can help you improve both your mental and physical wellness. Proper diet can also help you maintain emotional health and reduce food-related moodiness and energy dips, which can be detrimental to avoid addictive behaviors. If you are unsure how to create a balanced diet, consider utilizing the skills of a professional.
Find a Support Group
Close friends and family can be valuable sources of support, but if they have not gone through addiction themselves, they may not be able to provide a certain sense of understanding that others in the same predicament can offer. Find a local support group that offers a network of support during trying times as well as during positive milestones.
Serve Your Community
When self-defeating habits are removed from your life, it is necessary to fill that space with a positive energy. Find a way to give to your community and to those around you. A sense of productivity can increase your self-confidence and sense of accomplishment while surrounding you with others that also live productively.
Getting past your addiction and living a life free of it will take plenty of determination and time. You may feel as though you have hit a wall from time to time, but do not give up. As long as you continue taking steps forward, you can achieve an addiction-free life.
