As we’re working to recover from our addictions, many of us discover that one of our greatest triggers to relapsing is being bored, feeling fulfilled, and not having enough to occupy our time in useful ways. We don’t have healthy ways to express ourselves creatively. We don’t have outlets to help us stay productive and busy. When we don’t feel we’re fulfilling our purpose, we often feel worthless, ashamed and disappointed in ourselves. Our boredom and lack of fulfillment compound our fears of inadequacy, and we feel increasingly worse about ourselves. An important part of our recovery is finding ways to keep ourselves busy and productive, and doing things that we enjoy and that make us feel fulfilled.
Boredom: Trigger for Relapse
We have devoted so much of our time to our addictions and addictive behaviors that once we get sober, we don’t know what to do to replace all of that extra time we’ve now acquired. We’ve often become so disconnected from our purpose and our calling in life that we don’t even know what we’re interested in, what makes us happy, and what excites us. We don’t yet realize our limitless potential, and we don’t know what gifts we have to share with the world. When we’re bored, we’re often also feeling restless, anxious, nervous and worried. We don’t have healthy means of expressing ourselves or our worries and concerns. We deal with worsened depression and anxiety, a great deal of turmoil and uneasiness, and heightened stress levels, often because we feel so bad about ourselves for not accomplishing as much as we would like. We feel self-hating because we feel we’re wasting our potential. Our addictions feed off of all of our self-deprecating feelings, and off all of this extra time we’re not using productively. We use our drugs of choice to fill up our time and make us feel better about ourselves. When we don’t know how to occupy our time, when we’re not pursuing our interests and passions, and when we’re drowning in insecurity, we turn to our drugs of choice to self-medicate.
Finding Our Joy and Purpose
We can ask ourselves some pivotal questions to help ourselves think about what might bring us fulfillment, pleasure and enjoyment in our lives. Thinking back to the time in your life before your addiction set in and took over, before your sense of self was wrapped up in your addictions, what made you feel good about yourself? What did you love to do? What brought you joy and fulfillment? Do you have a special talent or gift to offer, or to use as creative self-expression? Is there a way you can be of service to the community around you? Is there something you want to share with the world? If you could do anything with your time, what would it be? If you could envision your dream career, what would it be? When you visualize yourself as your most authentic, happiest self, what are you doing?
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.
theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488