Being off-kilter in our daily lives can lead us to be off-kilter in our recovery. Of course, it can be difficult to always have a balance in your life. Curveballs get thrown at you and it can be difficult not to lunge at them and throw the bat at the ball, hoping to hit it. Except, that’s not how you hit a curveball. Of course, it’s not easy to sit back when problems arise. But, you’ve got to know when to wait for the right moment. Finding a balance is about attacking some of those curveballs that life throws at you, but also letting some go by. You aren’t going to be able to tackle every problem life throws at you. So, it’s about finding a balance. Continue reading to learn more about how to seek a balance.
Marjorie Ingall’s Quest for Balance
Marjorie Ingall is a writer who wrote “My Balance Quest” for Real Simple. Her quest was straightforward: find a balance. But how does one just “find a balance?” It can be very difficult to know what to let go of and what to act upon. Ingall read various self-help books and wrote about the best techniques in all of them. Today, Lighthouse will discover which self-help techniques were the best and why.
The Change Your Life Challenge by Brook Noel
The essential point that Ingall took from The Change Your Life Challenge by Brook Noel was “The Five-Minute Rule.” This rule was simple: if something that you need to do will take five minutes or less, do it now. Don’t slap it on your endless to-do list and dread checking it off. Writing it down and mulling over when to do it will extend the time it takes exponentially. Instead, just get it done now. This can be translated to substance abuse recovery because there are often self-care tools that we could benefit from, but instead, we push them off, thinking that there will be a better time to do them. The better time is now. If you have been struggling with being present lately, take a break for five minutes. Use this time to sit calmly and meditate. Use mindfulness to be in the moment and realign yourself. This will help you not only in the moment but also throughout the rest of your day.
Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
After reading Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins, Ingall realized that sometimes quitting isn’t quitting at all. For example, Robbins writes of helping his daughter through a difficult decision of whether or not to quit a hard-won job, “I assured her that making a decision to live congruently with your values is not quitting, nor is foolish consistency a virtue.” Translating this into addiction recovery means that quitting using substances is not really quitting at all. You probably know you’d be better off if you stopped using alcohol and drugs, but you may feel certain ways—weak in front of friends, for one—if you quit using substances. But really, it’s not quitting in the traditional sense if you know that you will be better off without it. You may even inspire someone else to stop using in the process. The big takeaway is that if something is not serving you and your recovery, don’t give it the time of day.
Life Lessons for Women: 7 Essential Ingredients for a Balanced Life by Jack Canfield
Although this book is geared toward women, there are great lessons that can be taken from the book that you can apply to your recovery. In Life Lessons for Women: 7 Essential Ingredients for a Balanced Life by Jack Canfield, Ingall took away the fact that you should own your choices. The more you own your choices, the better you’ll feel about yourself, and the less you’ll blame other people because you’re taking full responsibility. If you want to apply this theory into your recovery, you can adopt the phrase, “No, that won’t work out for me.” For example, if someone offers you a drink but you are working on your sobriety, you can politely say, “No, that won’t work out for me.” Although simple, this conveys that you are serious about taking responsibility for your recovery and will expect nothing less.
In Search of Balance: Keys to a Stable Life by Richard A. Swenson, MD
From In Search of Balance: Keys to a Stable Life by Richard A. Swenson, MD, Ingall took away that we should start to look at things as less of an obligation and more of a choice. The more you think of something as an obligation, the more overwhelmed you feel because it feels like less of a choice and more of something you have to do. If you are thinking of your recovery as a burden, you’re looking at it wrong. Obligations can be burdens, but choices are not. Lighten your recovery load by looking at your sobriety as a choice. You’ll feel a lot better about it that way.
The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz teaches Ingall the difference between time and energy. Often, we look at our to-do list and think that we do not have enough time to complete everything. Instead, we should look at our to-do list and think that we do not have enough energy to complete everything. You cannot change the amount of time you have, but you can work on strengthening your energy and the aspects of energy. You can work on focus and efficiency, for example. You’ll find that in your recovery, you should focus more of your energy on the important things and less of it on unimportant things. Make a list of things that are important to you and focus on that. Lighthouse can give you the skills you need to better the energy you have.
Lighthouse Recovery Texas is here to help you with seeking a balance in your recovery. We can give you the tools you need to succeed. Call us today. We can’t wait to hear from you!
