The constant struggle of addiction can mean that you end up feeling completely hopeless and lost. If you have already tried many times to quit but failed, it is understandable that your confidence would be low right now. You may have a million reasons why giving up alcohol or drugs is impossible for you, but this does not meant that you just have to accept your situation. Below we have listed just 10 reasons why you can break free of addiction.
1. You Only Need to Do it One Day at a Time
The idea of giving up alcohol or drugs forever can be overwhelming but nobody says you have to make that level of commitment. You can copy the technique used by the 12-step groups and just quit for one day at a time. Once you get beyond the withdrawal stage, you should not find it hard to stay sober for one day. All you need to do is to get up each morning and commit to one more day – if you feel like relapsing; you just delay until the next day (as well as getting some help). By using this one day at a time approach to recovery, the days quickly turn into weeks, which turn into months, which turn into years. If committing to one day is too much, you can just commit to one hour at a time.
2. If Others Can Break Free, So Can You
It matters not how low you have fallen because of your addiction, there is almost certainly somebody who has been worse off than you have yet has managed to achieve sobriety. Finding out about these individuals can inspire you to do the same. One of the benefits of entering rehab or joining a group like AA is you get to be around people who are in the same boat as you. The fact that you see your peers achieving sobriety motivates you to do the same – you are likely to be motivated by the idea that “if they can do it, so can I.”
3. You Are Never Too Old to Quit Addiction
It does not matter if you have just celebrated your hundredth birthday; it would not be too late to break free of your addiction. Sober living is far more rewarding, and it would be worth achieving even if you are only going to live for one more day. Giving up alcohol or drugs will allow you to get the most out of whatever time you have left on the planet. Do you really want to waste this time to the misery of addiction?
4. You Are Never Too Young to Quit Addiction
It doesn’t matter what age you are, you are still going to be too old to be wasting your life on addiction. It is common for people to begin suffering due to addiction in their teens, yet fail to get help because they believe they are too young; if these individuals are lucky enough to still be alive at fifty, they can still feel too young. Addiction could kill you tomorrow, so the best time to quit is now, no matter what your age.
5. You Deserve a Better Life
Addiction will be toxic to your self-esteem and it can get so bad that you actually start to believe that you deserve to suffer. This is just part of the delusion of substance abuse, so you need to be able to see beyond this. It matters not what you have done because of your addiction, you do not deserve this pain. Every person is entitled to a second chance, and this is what you get when you choose sobriety. If you feel your low self-esteem is holding you back, you might benefit from spending some time with a therapist.
6. There Are Many Different Approaches to Recovery
Just because you have tried and failed at different recovery approaches in the past does not mean you will fail with every option – it just means that you have not found the right one for you yet. Different approaches work for different people so the secret of success is finding the approach that would work for you. An addiction counsellor may be able to help you choose something appropriate. You can also find rehab programmes that offer an eclectic mix of treatments, which means it is more likely to be a suitable path for you.
7. Relapse is a Normal Part of Recovery
It is never good to relapse back to addiction, but it is very common. It takes some people many attempts before they are finally able to break free; it is certainly not unusual that you have tried and failed in the past. The important thing is that you keep on trying and that you try to learn from your failures. If you can do that, it means that you are constantly moving closer to permanent sobriety. Of course, if you keep on relapsing for the same reason, it will keep happening until you change your approach.
8. Staying Sober is Easy Once You Overcome Ambivalence
The most common reason why individuals struggle to remain sober is that they are ambivalent, which means that they are not fully committed to this new life. If you still hold on to the hope that you will one day be able to drink or use drugs safely then this is a sign that you are ambivalent, which means that recovery will be a real struggle for you. You need to be willing to surrender completely because then you will find it easy to stop the addictive behaviour.
9. You Have Likely Stopped Drinking in the Past
If you have managed to go a few days or weeks without drinking or using drugs in the past, you already know that you have the ability to quit. Your problem is not in stopping, but in staying stopped. There are plenty of great resources that will help you to commit to permanent sobriety, so this does not have to be too much of a challenge.
10. The Pain of Change Is Less than the Pain of Remaining the Same
One of the reasons you might feel powerless about breaking free of your addiction is it all feels so incredibly hard and painful. This is due to a mistaken view of your situation. The reality is that it would be far more painful and hard to remain as you are. Addiction involves a downward spiral and things will get worse over time. Choosing sobriety is actually the easier option here, and it would be far less painful; it could also lead you to a much happier way of living.
