If you do not want to be addicted to anything, acknowledge your involuntary habitual thinking, feelings and behaviours. Here are indicators of the underlying causes and they are the result of your reaction or response to your surroundings. Practice self-discipline. Discipline comes from the word disciple, following a way.
Keeping away from and off whatever it is that you are addicted to, is the point of this article. Physical, emotional and spiritual are three ways to look at the problem and we need to strengthen ourselves here. Each way has a part to play and has to be addressed. Detox would be where the fun begins for most people, be it bodily, mental or spiritual.
Physical
-proper nutrition assists in the mobilising of fatty acids which help liberate nutrients
-exercise strengthens our heart and lungs and releases endorphins which are powerful substances that energize us and lift our mood and relieves stress
-being horizontal for long enough will give sleep a better chance. Impatience in getting to sleep may be counterproductive.
-get some direct sun onto your skin, for the vitamin D
-any cigarettes and over use of alcohol is all bad
-find activities that you enjoy and that give you a boost
Emotional
-emotional pain and attitudes may have been behind the physical dependency, so counselling would be of some help to reintroduce order and direction, leading to emotional control and psychological well-being. You may not feel bad or good, but do things that allow you to feel good, a positive characteristic. You do not want to be addicted.
-getting the company of others helps one to be grounded and better able to handle things
-have some people who you can talk to when you need to. Be accountable to some one, have a mentor. Also offer mentor-ship to some one else, if you are up to it, to someone who needs help as teaching or coaching is the best way to learn something. It could be different people for different things
-having a project can help us to be constructively active
-books are a back stop for times of inactivity to keep you on track. Likewise, a journal of some kind, any kind, can help to remind us of what we have learned(or forgotten)
Spiritual
Faith is the substance of the things you hope for and the evidence of the things you can not see.
-keep the mind on the things that are true. It is built for the truth
-share with your support team your failures and successes
-keep connected with the creator in prayer and have self forgiveness
-stay away from harmful relationships
This is the start of the new life, the new you. It may mean a new set of activities, rituals and routines. These can help cement the new life.
To have a certain buoyancy about your way of seeing things and thinking, being able to bounce back from adversity, trauma and stress would aid stamina. You do not want to be addicted. A strong support network which enables you to interact with others, be they family or friends will help. Be trusted first to be then able to trust.
Gerard Boon
