Our struggles with addiction can rob us of our joy and our ability to enjoy our lives fully. We find it increasingly hard to live in the moment. We’re so consumed with our drugs of choice and how we’ll score our next high that we lose sight of the many blessings and opportunities in our lives. We develop patterns of self-avoidance that make us unable to connect with ourselves in a real way. We hear about mindfulness and learning to embrace each moment, especially as health and wellness trends, but can learning how to do this help us with our addictions?
When we practice mindfulness, we become more intentional in everything we do. We start to be more conscious of our thoughts, feelings, responses and behaviors. We slow down more. We have more patience with ourselves. We relax into faith that things will work out for the best, rather than imbuing everything in our lives with anxiety, worry and self-doubt. We learn to appreciate everything we have, and we practice a newfound mentality of gratitude and appreciation. Very often our addictions make us totally unconscious of how we’re impacting other people and ourselves. We don’t act mindfully. We repeat unconscious patterns, with denial, escapism and avoidance being some of our go-to coping mechanisms. Learning to live mindfully and to live in the moment helps us stop these patterns of unconsciousness. We’re able to halt the recurring cycles of behaving without deeper awareness. We become better able to think clearly before speaking or acting. We start responding to things rather than always reacting to them. We’re able to diffuse the hostility and aggression that many of us become trapped by and transform it into mindfully responding with calmness and intention. We think about things in more hopeful, openhearted ways. We stop thinking that being high and zoning out will take away our problems. We choose to start confronting them instead.
As we gain clarity, we reconnect with ourselves, with the people in our lives and with the world around us. As we learn to live with intention, we start to find enjoyment in all of the many pleasures of life we used to take for granted – the sun shining, laughter with friends, the sound of the wind in the trees. As we practice living in the moment and prioritizing gratitude, we’re able to interrupt the patterns of mindlessly turning to our drugs of choice for escape. We find new, healthier things that make us feel genuinely happy and fulfilled. We’re better able to ask ourselves, “Will this choice serve me, or am I holding myself back? How can I make the most of this moment? How can I live my life to the fullest?”
At The Guest House Ocala, you will be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information on our treatment programs.