Guest Post by Brandon
When you were using drugs or alcohol, you weren’t fully in control of your life. That’s why you finally sought help. After a lot of hard work and support from friends and family, you managed to get sober. Your journey through addiction recovery has begun.
That means it’s time to get your life back on track. Read on for some tips on how you can stay sober, feel better, and even find a new career so you can enjoy having a great life once again.
Staying Sober
Although you want to stay away from drugs and alcohol, the temptation will be there from time to time. Using again will unravel all that you’ve accomplished so far, which is why it’s so important to stay clean.
DrugAbuse.com lists some great tips for staying sober that you can use to keep your life on track. First, you need to embrace forgiveness. It’s impossible to enjoy a new life when you’re obsessing about the old one. Along the same lines, make sure you live in the present. Don’t worry about the future until it arrives. You can also try meditation, as it can relax you and get rid of stress and anxiety you have that can detail your addiction recovery.
Another great idea is to work on your physical fitness. Exercise has been repeatedly shown to help reduce stress, boost your mood, and deliver a natural high through endorphins. As you get healthier and see the results of your efforts, your self-esteem improves. Just be sure to start small. Add exercise to your routine slowly so the changes are easier to handle. You also don’t want to injure yourself, so increase your physical activity over time.
How Pets Can Help
The reason forgiveness and exercise can help you stay sober is that they ease the stress of your addiction recovery journey. When you are more relaxed, you have less desire to use drugs and alcohol. Believe it or not, that’s why having a pet is such a great idea.
Recovery.org explains that having a pet causes your body to cut back on cortisol, the stress hormone. In other words, playing with your pet reduces your depression and anxiety. Studies have also shown that having a pet helps your immune system work better, helping you stay healthy. It can even reduce your blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension.
In addition, spending time with a pet helps you be more mindful, which is the point of meditation. Mindfulness helps you sleep better and reduces chronic pain, but it also helps you enjoy the present. Being mindful of the pleasures and happiness you’re experiencing help both become more real for you, and that lets you resist the temptation of the inauthentic pleasures of using drugs and alcohol.
Starting Your Own Business
Although these are great ways to stay sober, having a new life means having a new job as well. There’s a good chance your old job isn’t still waiting for you now that you’re sober. Instead of going back to school, you should consider starting your own business.
That might sound like a big step, but as The Balance explains, there are many benefits to this. For one, you are the one in control. After so much time spent under the control of drugs or alcohol, this can be just what you need to keep your life on track. You also get to create something, which boosts your self-esteem, and it gives you something worthwhile to focus on. When you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t have the time to relapse.
Since having a pet can be so helpful when in addiction recovery, Rover.com recommends that you start a pet-based business. Pet sitting and pet walking are both fun ways to earn some money, be your own boss, and support your journey through addiction recovery.
Stay On Your Path
Getting sober took a lot of work, so you deserve to stay clean and get your life back. To help with that, get some exercise and be mindful of your present, get a pet, and look into starting your own business. This can be the help you need to stay on the right path in life.