Temptation

Avoiding Temptation: Advice for Sober Living

Whether it is a mental or physical addiction, temptation is always haunting our minds on the road to sobriety. Although the goal is to bring yourself back to a stable, free life, sobriety can never be achieved alone. Here at Recovery Care, there is no reason to fear the temptation. Despite it’s very real pain, we are always here to bring you back up.

 

Voices of Release

Addiction is a battle fought moment to moment throughout the day. It is important to stay sociable as much as possible. Friends and family keep you planted in reality of sober living. But every once in a while we of course need some alone time. And it is in those moments that can be the hardest. Our decisions are made by our internal judgment, and that judgment can become impaired by dangerous thoughts. These thoughts are quiet, but profound. They are bullies that tell us that we are less than who we believe and/or want to be. They tell us that there is no hope and that our natural tendencies will bring us right back into a relapse. And with these doubts plaguing our hearts and minds, we become all the more likely to go into a relapse. However, what we don’t see in these moments are the ways people change through rehabilitation. It is only through a foundation of support, exercise and encouragement that remind us that sobriety is a very real thing, and our bad thoughts find themselves on an empty foundation. But sober living starts with the realization of who we really are. That this disease is not our fault. There is neither blame nor condemnation in the eyes of those who love us.

 

Physical temptation

Along with mental stress, physical opportunities can evoke temptation as well. Every once in a while our daily lives remind us of those moments of release when we had our addiction. The physical circumstance may make the substance look like a good thing. Those moments give us a single thought: “imagine it.” Whenever those thoughts come up, we need to have a physical reminder of sobriety. Whether it is through a friendly phone call, a fun activity with a loved one, or engaging in anything that reminds you of the things that addiction takes away. The trick that plays in your head is that you can have both the addiction and your life, but that is where reality falls apart. You can’t have both. It is either one or the other. And when we remind ourselves of the better goal, it brings us back to the true joy of our sober living. It brings us back to the family and friends, who show us that the addiction does not have the final say.