As we’re working to recover, one of the most important things we’ll need to address is the kind of lifestyles we’ve created for ourselves that have been contributing to our addictions and mental health issues. We make choices, both small daily choices and huge life decisions, that perpetuate our addictions and our overall lack of well-being. How can we create lifestyles that are more conducive to our healing?
Our lifestyles begin with our habits. Our daily habits become our routines, and our routines form the foundation for our lifestyles. To change any habit and to recreate our lifestyles, we want to start becoming more mindful of all the ways in which we’re living now that aren’t serving us. Most of the time, we aren’t conscious of our habits and lifestyles. We’re going through the motions of our daily lives, operating on autopilot, without being aware of how much pain and difficulty we’re causing ourselves. We often make choices and develop patterns unconsciously. To be more mindful moving forward, let’s work to take inventory of our current habits and lifestyles. How do we begin and end our days? How do we function in life? Are we able to keep up with our demands, responsibilities and obligations? What things do we do every day, that we feel dependent upon, that we think we can’t live without? For example, some of us can’t function without a morning cup of coffee or cigarette. What things, such as self-care and spiritual practice, have we made a habit of neglecting? Is our lifestyle conducive to our well-being, or it is enabling and maintaining our unwellness? Are we taking steps to improve our health? What measures are we taking to kick our addictions and other destructive habits? What new habits can we start in order to increase our well-being? What do our lifestyles need to look like in order for us to recover?
The more we can assess our habits and lifestyles, and the more we can become mindful of them, the more we can look at what areas of our lives need improvement and learn how to make our lifestyles more conducive to our recovery. We start to see all of the ways we can take our health into our own hands on a daily basis and make better choices for ourselves, such as going to therapy, getting exercise, surrounding ourselves with others in recovery, prioritizing self-care, and considering treatment options.
Your new life starts today. Let Riverside Recovery be your support system as you do the work to heal. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information on our addiction recovery treatment programs.