It can be easy to feel a sense of accomplishment to overcome an addiction and obtain sobriety. This can be easy to celebrate as you turn your life around and start to look forward to the future. Although it’s easy to be excited about sobriety, the thrilling feeling you experience can start to dissipate as you get back to your day-to-day life.
Sobriety is always something to feel rewarded by, but many people can start to wonder what their purpose is once they start to live without substances. You may not know what it is you want to wake up or look forward to each day. Fortunately, there are a few practical steps to take to ensure you find a new sense of purpose in sobriety.
Discover Your Passions
One of the best ways to enjoy life without going back to drugs or alcohol is to find what you’re passionate about and what you love. Discovering your passions is necessary because it will give you something to look forward to and can help you get the most out of life. This can take time, which makes it necessary to have patience with yourself.
Think about how you enjoyed spending your time when you were a child. You may have enjoyed writing stories, reading, or taking photos. Your activities as a child can offer insight into how you can also enjoy spending your adulthood.
You can also join local clubs to find new hobbies that you’ve never participated in before. Join a cooking class or a group that makes ceramics to try new activities that can make you feel rewarded. Once you discover your passions, you can fill your schedule with hobbies that contribute to your life instead of taking away from it.
Start a New Career
You may be ready for a career change in sobriety to ensure you look forward to how you spend your time earning a living. You may be ready to change jobs or start a new business. Spend some time writing down a few of your dreams to get an idea of what you can enjoy doing long-term. If you enjoy your job, you’re much more likely to succeed instead of working somewhere that doesn’t leave you feeling fulfilled.
You can also write down a few goals that you can work towards that are related to your career. This may include furthering your education or finding a partner to help you start a business.
Spend Time with Family and Friends
Spending time alone in sobriety can leave you feeling lonely and isolated, which is often a trigger for returning to addictions for many people. It’s important to schedule time with your family members and friends throughout the week to ensure you have a strong support system and strengthen your relationships.
Having plenty of people in your life can help you to feel more confident in yourself and understand just how much others care for you. It can also allow you to have plenty of people to lean on if you’re struggling to maintain your sobriety.
Find new ways to have fun with your loved ones, which may include spending the day at the beach, riding bikes, or playing board games. This can allow you to feel happier and have less of a temptation to return to drugs or alcohol.
Create New Goals
It’s important to create a new life for yourself in sobriety. Sobriety shouldn’t just consist of staying clean, but it should also include having goals that you work toward to ensure you can feel proud of yourself and the life you can look forward to living.
Sit down every few months and write down personal goals you have for yourself to ensure you can slowly start to build a life you enjoy. This may include getting married, having a child, saving money to buy a house, or becoming debt-free.
Get a Pet
Owning a pet is a great way to care for something outside of yourself after you’ve overcome addiction. Studies show that many people are happier when they own a pet. Consider adopting a dog from the pound or finding a cat to purchase. This can allow you to develop more responsibility by caring for an animal and will also ensure you always have company while spending time at home.
Reach out to our counselors 24/7 if you want to learn more about the services we offer at our treatment center. We’ll answer your questions when you call us at 866-963-7200.