If you struggle with substance use, stepping forward even when it’s painful opens the door to change. The toughest step is always the first one when you realize how substance use is affecting your life and then choose to make a change. Overcoming substance use takes more than willpower. It changes your brain and affects daily decisions. However, no matter how difficult your situation feels, how painful your current status is, or how many times you think you failed, you can make a difference in your life with the right treatment and guidance.
Most people feel conflicted and confused when thinking about giving up substances, even when they know substances are affecting their life. It’s okay to feel held back and nervous about the change. Recovery takes time, dedication, support, and commitment to make a difference and help you regain your life back.
Some of the commitment changes that occur when you step forward in recovery are changes in how you deal with stress, who is a part of your social network, what you choose to do with your life at work and in your free time, and how you perceive yourself, among others.
Your first step forward can feel painful, as you are accustomed to a certain lifestyle that is abruptly changing. Recovery includes detoxification, and there is a withdrawal process that removes the toxins from your body before the lifestyle change begins. This is a step that many people fear, but if they remember it is only temporary, the fear lifts.
When beginning to step forward on your path, recovery can take an emotional toll on you and those that surround you. Removing the toxins in your body and addressing pre-existing emotional turmoils such as guilt, or shame, or insecurities that came with your substance use can be difficult.
When substances enter your body, they disrupt your mindset, creating an emotional and physical complication that affects you and those around you, even if they aren’t upfront about it. Only through the right treatment and recovery plan can you escape the emotional and physical complications of your chemical dependency.
Primarily, stepping forward requires a change in the way you think about change. You can list the pros and cons of why you want to quit and what role substance use is playing in your life. Ask yourself if the substances are affecting those things and if you trust yourself and your mindset when using substances.
After you are honest with your answers, you can question whether anything is preventing you from making a difference in your life and whether changing it will benefit you in the short-term and long-term. Each person struggles with substance use for different reasons.
Your situation is unique; therefore, the changes you can make to your lifestyle are also unique. Are you looking for happiness in life, and if so, are you prepared to step in the right direction to get that happiness?
The goal of addiction treatment is more than just removing the toxins from your body. It’s a vital part of repairing your life so you can be happy. However, some individuals may have complications or experiences of trauma that revolve around using substances. How can they move forward despite the pain and suffering experienced? The answer is not letting go. Instead, the path forward is genuine acceptance.
The one thing you can control in your life is yourself. Substance use destroys us in physical and emotional ways we may never have expected. Because they worsen physical and emotional pain, substances intensify events and dramatic experiences rather than making them disappear. However, when you decide to take your life back so you can reach your full potential and find happiness, you soon realize you can take the step forward, despite the pain.
Stepping forward, even when it’s painful, is a brave thing to do. Your substance use will not just disappear with simple willpower because you have trained your body to be chemically dependent on it.
By relying on evidence-based treatment approaches and compassionate guidance, you can address the underlying emotional, physical, and psychological aspects of your substance use. Every recovery specialist is dedicated to helping you and your life improve. With the right treatment plan and support beside you, you can be free from the corrosive and dangerous effects of substance use.
At NorthStar Transitions, help is available for you. You don’t have to suffer and deal with the pain of substance use on your own. Our compassionate team understands substance use and has helped many others in similar situations. Our facility is dedicated to giving you individualized and customized treatment plans with new cutting-edge approaches, holistic healing, and evidence-based clinical techniques to heal you, inside and out. They work hand-in-hand with you, utilizing modalities with proven track records of success. You deserve to have a healthy and happy life and to find purpose. You may not know what your purpose is yet, but you have one. Going through recovery may feel painful at first, but stepping forward and healing yourself will make all the difference in your life and your future. If you are struggling with substance use or someone you love struggles with substance use, find compassionate support today. Reach out to us at (303) 558-6400.
