One of our most difficult challenges when living with addiction is the overwhelming temptation we feel, how much we feel pulled and tempted by our drug of choice, how strong and overpowering our addictive urges can be. As we’re working to recover, this temptation can continue to be difficult for us. We still think about our drug of choice at length. Many of us are still preoccupied and obsessed with it. We still believe subconsciously that it will take away our pain, ease our anxiety, or make us feel better about ourselves. We still feel dependent upon it to cope with our daily lives and manage our stress. We worry that this temptation will always be a factor in our lives. We worry that this will be a constant, permanent internal struggle for us. Will we always be tempted by our drugs of choice?
Dropping the Resistance
The temptation and addictive urges we feel are a normal, natural and common part of our experience with addiction and recovery. Some of us may always feel that we’re tempted by our drug of choice, and we might feel that this is an unavoidable truth in our experience. Many of us do ultimately stop feeling the temptation of addiction, though, and there are some very helpful things we can do to rid ourselves of that temptation. One thing we can do is decrease the resistance we feel to our addictive urges. When urges arise, many of us tend to panic and react strongly. We convince ourselves that we won’t be able to get through the urge and overcome the temptation. We panic that we’ll always be dealing with this struggle. These responses, while totally understandable, are forms of resistance. We want to, as much as possible, accept the urges when they happen. We want to be as calm, accepting and neutral about them as we can. We want to comfort ourselves and have faith that we’ll get through them. The more acceptance we have for these urges, and anything else difficult in our lives, the less power they have over us.
Belief Systems
A lot of the power that our temptation holds over us comes from our belief systems around our addictions and drugs of choice. We believe our drug of choice to be stronger than us. We believe we’re not strong enough to overcome temptation. We believe that we’re weak. We believe that we need our drugs of choice to feel better about ourselves, to complete us, or to cope. We can transform these belief systems. We can believe new truths, that we’re strong enough, capable enough and powerful enough to overcome our addictions. The more we practice believing these new self-affirming truths, the more they will take root in our consciousness and become our new belief systems, empowering us to put our temptation behind us.
The Guest House is a welcoming and supportive recovery home where you will be met with open arms, wherever you are on your journey, without judgment or expectation.
Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.
theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488