We’ve been talking about how we often beat ourselves up for things we did or said in the past. This kind of criticism is counterproductive, because we all know that we can’t change the past.
But we can change things in the present. In fact, changing some things in the present can even help us deal with our pasts.
We could be struggling with alcohol or drug problems now or could’ve had these struggles in the past. If we’re currently using, we can find help. We can talk with others who have shared similar struggles to get their input and find out how they achieved their sobriety.
If we’ve already sought treatment for our substance use disorder, we might remember things we wish we hadn’t done or said during this abuse. While we can’t change our past words or actions, we can do things in the present to make things better.
Drug or alcohol abuse could have created problems with our friends and family members. We can do things to try to repair this damage. We can
- Attend therapy sessions to discuss such problems.
- Have frank discussions about the impact of our substance use disorder.
- Listen to what our friends and relatives have to say.
- Ask our loved ones what we can do to help improve the relationships.
This time with our loved ones joins other things we can do in the present to help our sobriety.After all, when people talk about sobriety, many are thinking about sobriety groups. This could be 12 step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous or non 12 step groups such as Secular Organizations for Sobriety. These groups often focus on the present, since they encourage members to approach sobriety one day at a time. What can be more in the present than that?
