Drug and alcohol addiction is typically provoked by someone who is looking for instant gratification to cope with the discomforts of life. Drinking and using can initially take the edge off. Tolerance continues to grow by continuously chasing a stronger buzz until it just does not work any longer. Once the discomfort starts to ensue again, your only hope is to get sober and find ways to finally get comfortable in your skin.
Be Content With Being Yourself
One of the main problems of feeling uncomfortable comes from the self-judgment that is inside your mind. You try to feel better based on the impractical expectations society sets for you instead of changing the way you view yourself. You have to start being kinder to yourself by implementing measures that can alter the truth with your perception. Use positive affirmations, meditation, and your recovery work to help you see that you are a good person who made bad decisions.
Plus, you need to start giving yourself credit for the positive choice you have made to get sober. That decision alone should provide you with confidence that you are trying to lead a better life without drugs or alcohol being part of the mix. Recovery is not always easy, but it will be rewarding if you let yourself see the truth in what you are doing instead of having a dishonest, dysmorphic, or superficial view of yourself.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
You are unique and wonderfully made. Comparison to others is the thief of joy. If you are constantly trying to be something that you are not equipped to be, you will consistently be disappointed. You also will be needlessly trying to achieve something that will most likely never happen exactly the way you envision it to be in your mind.
If you keep comparing yourself to others, you will keep feeling disconcerted to make you feel uncomfortable about who you are supposed to be. There is nothing wrong with seeing what you like in others and striving to imitate the physical, mental, or spiritual beauty you see. You just need to understand that you must honor who you are by staying true to your being.
Get Validation From the Proper Channels
Your addiction can tell you what a terrible person you are, which can make you believe the lies. You may also have people in your life giving you negative feedback based on what you did under the influence. Taking your skewed perception or the subjective perception of another at face value could give you the wrong validation. Choose people in your life who encourage you and uplift you to gain the proper attitude about who you really are.
Connect to your higher power so that you can use spiritual guidance to see the truth and gain validation from a comforting source. Where you acquire your insight is important. You should see the validity of their optimism, trustworthiness, and sincerity to give you the comfort you need.
Know Thyself
Becoming introspective about who you are can help you to understand why you have certain emotions, quirks, mannerisms, or thoughts that define you. Learning what makes you tick, what inspires you, and your purpose can be instrumental in how you see yourself. Knowledge is something that can comfort you during the times you lack confidence.
When you know more about yourself, you can inwardly dispute the untruths that you may have believed all along. Understanding your addiction, whether you are an introvert or extrovert, your strengths and weaknesses, or what boundaries you need are some of the ways that you can discern who you are, and be proud of this wisdom.
Help Others to Help Yourself.
Comfort to be comforted is what service work is all about. Once you put your hand out to someone less fortunate than you, there is no denying that you will see you have it better than you believed. Being of service allows you to stop thinking about yourself so that you can think about others instead. Making someone else feel good will inevitably make you feel good in the process.
Taking time out to aid someone else will break down the barrier of feeling uncomfortable in your skin with each kind act. Your self-worth will increase by taking positive actions that will help another person. They are helping you just as much as you are helping them because favorable actions benefit everyone involved.
Becoming comfortable in your skin will take away your anxiety, depression, and reason to drink and use. You were meant to live contently in this life, and the change has to come from you. People, places, and things will always have power over the way you feel if you let them. Staying sober and positive will be a step in the right direction and lead you to feel comfortable in your skin with each passing day of recovery.
Valiant Living wants to assist you with the cessation of drugs and alcohol. Offering a full range of recovery and mental health services, we offer “Expanded Recovery” to enrich our clients’ lives in mind, body, and spirit. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call us today to begin your journey: 303-536-5463