As drug and alcohol addiction demolished your life, you may not have realized the full extent of your wreckage. As you “come to” in your sobriety and start to go through the damage that you have caused, there is no way to comprehend everything. This wreckage includes entitlement, selfishness, dishonesty, fear, and cynicism. These things keep you from being able to completely go back to living life without relearning some necessary skills again.
Addiction will change you in ways that you never expected and take you to dark places that require significant work to come back from. You need therapy and the 12-Steps to help you through, but you also need to get back to the basics to relearn life skills that will be instrumental in your transformation. Simple tasks, like making the bed, and paying your phone bill on time, will build your confidence because when you act better, you feel better.
Life Skills Build Confidence
Self-esteem and self-worth come from taking actions that make you feel better once you finish them. Grocery shopping, self-care, paying bills, and cleaning your room are all activities that make you feel productive and responsible in your recovery.
Life Skills Develop Awareness
You may not even realize how entitled you became from abusing drugs and alcohol. Once you recognize how selfishly you were acting and how your behavior affected others, you may be blindsided entirely by how profound your recovery is. Once you embrace more positive practices, you will establish more zest for daily living.
Life Skills Direct Decision-Making
Making appropriate choices is not always something that comes easy for someone with an addiction. With an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, decision-making can be pretty tricky without practicing recovery. Practicing practicality versus impulsivity is vital to hone your decision-making abilities. Life skills can give you the competence to decide what the right next thing to do is.
Although you may think you do not need to relearn your life skills, do not miss an opportunity to reestablish your life from humble beginnings. Starting from scratch is different for everyone, and for someone with an addiction, that means becoming honest, open-minded, and willing during this second chance at life.
We make a practice of learning life skills here at Valiant Living to assist our clients in re-acclimating into their sober life smoothly. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Valiant fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. Call us to get started on your journey today by calling us at 303-536-5463.
