Addiction is a battle and one that you are almost certain to lose if you do not fight back. It eats at your soul, it swallows your life, and it will never let you go until you give in. What then? You’ve let this thing that means nothing take everything from you. What would be the point?
Luckily, for addicts still clawing their way through life, there are steps that can be taken to ensure victory over addiction. The following five steps will help you to win that battle and succeed in your addiction recovery:
1. Keep a journal
Keeping a journal is an essential step in conquering your addiction. Simply put, it’s the difference between winning and losing. There is nothing wrong with lying to other people about what you’ve been doing while you’re out there getting wasted every night, but lying to yourself is a different story entirely. Without even knowing it, we lie to ourselves about what we’ve been doing when we get high or drunk or on whatever substance we use.
Keeping a journal will help you to recognise these lies and recognise the grip that addiction still has on your life. In addition to this, keeping a journal can give you insight into your own behaviour and problems. That’s something that might be hard for you to do otherwise.
2. Don’t be ashamed of your addiction
Don’t hide from it, don’t be ashamed of it, and don’t try to pretend that it doesn’t exist. These things only make addiction worse. We all have addictions, whether we admit them or not, so there is no reason whatsoever for us to feel shame over them. Instead, be proud of the fact that you are learning how to overcome it. This is an accomplishment that you should be proud of, not something that should cause you to feel shame.
Addiction is just a part of life for many people, and don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it. If your addiction led you here (to this website), then try your best to make sure it’s the last place it takes you!
3. Make some positive changes in your life
If you want to conquer addiction, then you’re going to have to make some changes in your life. Granted, this may be easier said than done, but it is possible. There are many ways that you can start making these changes in your life. For instance, if you found yourself using drugs or alcohol because you were bored or depressed, try doing something that interests you instead. If getting wasted every night was the only thing that kept you from being alone, tell someone what’s on your mind and realise how much of an impact they can have on your life.
Changing the way you think about things is often enough to make positive changes in your life. If you need to make some big changes, then do it. Take that class that you’ve been meaning to take or see a doctor about that depression that’s been driving you to drink lately. Whatever it takes, you have to change the way you look at things if you want to beat addiction.
4. Find support
Do you find yourself thinking, “I need someone to help me quit”? Then you should look around for support groups, such as Help Me Stop, near where you live, or online communities for people who are going through what you are going through right now. There are many people out there who understand what addiction is like, and they may be able to help give you advice or just lend an ear. No matter what, you simply cannot go it alone when it comes to your battle against addiction. You need others to help you in this fight, and that’s why you should absolutely look for support groups or communities that will help you through the process.
5. Don’t quit quitting
This point should be obvious, but if you want to beat addiction, then don’t just give up! Many things can get in our way when we want to conquer something like addiction, but if we truly desire victory over these obstacles, then we should fight them out. If that means that you have to go cold turkey for a while, then so be it. Don’t let addiction take over your life without putting up a fight. There will be countless moments where you think about giving up on this thing called addiction once and for all, so don’t do it. Things are never as bad as they seem at the moment.
If you do end up giving up on your battle against addiction, then it won’t be long before you want to start all over again.
