It is advised that you find hobbies or new interests to fill the extra time that you have if you want to stay strong and win your battle with addiction. Idle time can be very dangerous for those who are trying to kick an addiction. There are numerous things you can do to fill your time in a positive way. It is important to remember that it does not matter if other people find your hobby interesting or consider it to be a hobby at all.
A hobby is nothing more than an interest you have that fills your time so you make anything a hobby. The following chapter will go over the importance of finding new hobbies while battling an addiction and give you some ideas of new hobbies you may want to try out.
Use Hobbies to Beat Your Addiction
As stated before, hobbies can be very useful when you are trying to kick an addiction to the curb. It is important that you try to fill as much idle time as you can. The reason for this is the fact that if you sit around bored you will likely be tempted to revert back to your old ways and start to use drugs again. On the other hand, if you are constantly busy you will not have the time it takes to go through all of the efforts of finding the drugs and using them.
On top of staying drug free you will notice that you are being very productive and get a lot done. Keep in mind that anything can be considered a hobby. All you have to do is find something that interests you and that you do not mind spend time doing. The following are some examples of hobbies that might interest you and that you might want to try.
Build Models:
Building models can be quite challenging and can take quite a bit of time to do, depending on the level of difficulty of the model that you complete. There are many different types of models and different ranges of difficulties. You can build nearly anything from a car to a plane to a rocket. The possibilities are nearly endless. Models come with paint and accent stickers to make whatever you build look really cool.
Models will also have moving parts that make them functional. For example, model cars have rolling tires and some are even built with electronics that make them able to be operated with a remote control. Another example would be building model rockets. These rockets are built with functional engines that you install and actually shoot up into the air and come back down via parachute.
Try Woodworking:
If you like to work with your hands and get things done yourself, woodworking is probably an ideal hobby for you. You may want to try taking some woodworking classes and build your skill level. Making a hobby out of woodworking can be beneficial for many different reasons. The most important reason is the fact that it fills idle time which is very important when you are trying to battle an addiction.
Another reason is the fact that you will be able to display your creations in your home and you will receive compliments about them. This adds a bonus of building self-esteem on top of filling your time. You will feel good about yourself when someone asks you where you got something and you explain to them that you built it with your own two hands.
Scrap Booking:
If you are looking for a more laid back hobby you may want to consider scrap booking. Scrap booking will not only fill your idle time it will also help you to keep track of important memories over time. Sometimes we can lose track of what is really important in life and the times that make us truly happy. Scrap books are full of wonderful memories and can really make a person feel good.
An added benefit of scrap booking while trying to beat an addiction is the fact that it can make you feel better on a bad day. Also, later in life you will be able to look back at your scrap book and remember all the hard times it helped you through, especially beating your addiction.
Volunteer:
Some people make a hobby out of volunteering. Sometimes nothing is more rewarding than helping another person who is in need. The benefits of making a hobby out of volunteering are ample. One example is the fact that you will always have opportunities to fill your time because there is always somewhere who needs volunteer work done. Another benefit is the fact that you will come across people who are in a much worse situation than yours.
For example, if you volunteer at a hospital or soup kitchen you will surely feel thankful for your health and the food you eat every day. Sometimes we need a wake up call to help us remember what we have in life and volunteering is a great way to be reminded. Volunteering will surely make you feel great about yourself and will make beating your addiction much easier.
Drug Abuse Basics
Are things spiraling out of control in your life? Is there something going on that is ruining everything in your life? Do you think that a drug addiction is behind all the problems in your life? If you answered yes it is time to begin change and to regain control of your life.
When some people choose to battle their addiction they choose to do so without the help of a rehab or other treatment center. Whether you are fighting your addiction alone or with help it is important that you understand the basics of drug abuse and addiction.
The following chapter will go over the basics of drug abuse and addiction and provide you with some very useful information that will make it much more likely for you to succeed in your battle against drugs. If you are serious about making life changes continue reading and start the battle today!
The Basics
As mentioned before, whether you are trying to beat your addiction on your own or you are utilizing outside services such as counseling or drug rehabs, it is extremely important that you are very knowledgeable of the basics of drug abuse. Believe it or not you have already made the first step on the journey to a better life. You may be asking how that is possible.
The answer is simple, you have searched for help and that is how you stumbled across this book. The first step to beating an addiction is realizing and accepting that you have a problem. It is important that you are honest with yourself about how bad your problem has become, this is usually easier said than done. This is because it is much easier to make the negative outcomes of your drug abuse seem less damaging than they really are.
Minimizing the seriousness of a problem is what allows an addict to continue abusing drugs and slowly killing themselves. In most cases, the realization of how bad things have really become does not happen until the addict hits rock bottom. Rock bottom is a term that refers to when an addict hits a new low in life. There is nowhere lower to go than rock bottom and that is why it takes most addicts hitting it before they realize they have a problem.
If you are not quite sure if you have an addiction or not there are some questions you need to ask yourself. The following warning signs of addiction and questions you need to ask yourself will be of great help in determining if you have an addiction or not.
Do Drugs Control Your Thoughts?
Does it seem like no matter what is going on in your life your brain seems to always find a way to shift its focus back onto drugs? An example of this may include sitting at your child’s little league game and the entire time thinking of your next fix. This is a common sign of a drug addiction and if you are experiencing this negative impact of drug abuse you are likely addicted to that drug.
Another common sign of drug addiction is when things that would not normally be drug related remind you of drug use for some reason. An example of this may be seeing something that looks like the same shape as a pipe making you want to smoke or seeing a spoon and suddenly craving for heroin. To some this may seem crazy but those who are addicted to drugs are aware of how true this really is.
Are You Changing?
Drug abuse and addiction will eventually change you. Take a good look at your life and ask yourself, am I changing? It is important that you are honest with yourself while doing this because the only person you will be cheating by being dishonest is yourself.
There are some key point you need to look at such as if you are losing your friends, if you are losing interest and motivation in life, if you are becoming unsocial, and if everything in your life is becoming related to drug abuse in one way or another. If the answer to any of those questions is yes it is very likely that you have a drug addiction.
Are You Spending More Money Than You Can Afford?
A lot of people who are addicted to drugs will find that they need more and more of the drug to try to reach the same high that they are used to. This is referred to as chasing the high. Chasing the high can become quite expensive and it won’t be long, if you don’t already do it, that you are spending much more money on drugs than you can afford. This is how many addicts end up selling drugs in order to make more money to buy drugs.
Some addicts even end up selling their stuff to get drugs and some even go far enough to steal from other people. If you are spending more money than you can afford on drugs it is very likely that you have a problem that needs to be addressed immediately.
Is Your Health Suffering?
Any drug use is bad for a person’s body but it is much more damaging for an addict as they use much more. Take a look in the mirror; can you see the damage that your addiction is causing you? Are you pale? Do you have dark circles under your eyes? Does your face look thin? Do you look like a stranger? If you answered yes to any of those questions it is definitely time for a change.
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