Addiction and balance

balance and addiction

Addiction and balance certainly don’t go together at all! There are two main actions that lead to a balanced lifestyle. The first is to understand and respect each of the important areas of your life. The second consists of changing your perspective in the areas in which you are stuck. Maintaining this balance in your life can help you to lead a more healthy and enjoyable life as you work toward preventing yourself from falling back into addiction relapse through replacing old with new that you learn about managing during your addiction treatment.

For many in early recovery, you may often notice that even though you are abstinent from your drug of choice and other addictive behavior or simply living life in extreme seems to come to the forefront. Addiction and balance don’t quite seem to fins each other. Many of these behaviors do not seem like they are problematic at first but when they are expressed in extremes there can be significant loss of balance in a person’s life. Food, exercise, sex and relationships, gambling and other behaviors if acted out in extremes can lead to further problems. It’s almost as if addicts and alcoholics have little to no concept of the term moderation. Many will begin to act out and excessive ways attempting to overcompensate such as in their work life, becoming dependent on romantic relationships, overeating or overspending. There is also displacement, something we see very often when Addiction and balance are polar opposites. These extremes are a sign that the person has not yet healed and are using these behaviors as a way of avoiding the reality of their lives.

ADDICTION AND BALANCE AS A LIFESTYLE

You have a rational and irrational centre

You have a loving and fearful centre

You have an addictive and non addictive centre

You have a conscious and a subconscious centre

You have an extroverted and an introverted centre

You have a spirit and an ego centre

You have a kind and selfish centre

You have a past and future centre

You can choose your centre

Jung identified two sets of  characteristics in the human psyche, each with a polar opposite. Thinking and feeling (rational) as one set and intuition and sensation (irrational) as the other. The theory here was that ‘through the principle of compensation, its opposite will then be subconscious. When we align with our centre, we align with source and we find our purpose, we find our meaning. What an amazing connection. So balance as usual is paramount in all things.

Living a balanced life… has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? A meaningful life is one that subscribes to addiction and balance, one in which adequate time is given to the activities that express your values and priorities. No matter what those values may be, many of us do not live our life in balance, or in a manner that consistently sustains the things we value most. The dictionary defines balance as an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. Interesting, to say the least!balance

Addiction and balance, and alcoholics who have been in long-term recovery generally learn that light in extremes of any nature-positive or negative-is not conducive to ongoing recovery. Learning to make changes in our life in order to find better balance may take some time but you are worth it. Recovery is a balancing act. Learning to become more dependent upon certain things like a higher power or support group is certainly important. Learning to be more independent is part of how we find Addiction and balance coming together. Learning to be responsible and take responsibility in our lives for many things and not so much for others also requires balance. Learning to say yes to certain things and know to others not only requires healthy boundaries but also requires balance.

Call Pathways Plett Rehab for help or assistance with Addiction and balance and drug prevention advice.