Alternative Activities are Vitally Important | Stop The Addictions
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Alternative Activities are Vitally Important

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    • April 27, 2023 at 12:56 pm #17523
      timcia
      Keymaster

        To quit an addiction and find joy, we decide to do new activities and then we do them. They are not for fun, play, pleasure, or profit. It is wise to treat them like work or some great difficult goal.

        Example: I decide my new activity is playing the piano. First I set a goal: 30 minutes per day. # 2 Decide exactly when you will do it: 6:30 PM. # 3 Say 10 times daily why you need to do this activity: “I need to play the piano so that I stop being a slave to ______.” # 4 Pray, “Father take away this lust, and show me how playing the piano will help me.”

        Spiritual goals are important. But after that, your activity goals should sometimes be the next most important. But what about family? It is a balance, a juggling game that you need to play until you get healthy. One solution to the family question is to work out with them. Do a hobby with them.

        New activities are not great fun if you are really addicted. Addiction uses up all our fun and leaves us dark and empty. So keep this in mind. The exact same activities that you don’t love in week one of quitting seem a lot better in week 4 after you have been clean for a month and are in a good place with God.

        Someday, some of your new activities will become positive addictions. I lift weights every day. I play either the piano or bass guitar virtually every day. I write articles about addiction every day and I do many other things every day.

        Secondly, I want to try to explain how life gets better after we quit. With addiction we move from fun event (maybe) to fun event. Trying to find answers, fun, thrills. With freedom, we start to find increasing joy, and answers. With addiction, we watch TV always searching frantically for thrills. With freedom, we start to enjoy clean TV and we start to find contentment. With addiction, there are no answers. With freedom plus God, we start to find a purpose for living. With addiction, we sometimes struggle with family and people. With freedom we learn how important it is to live in love.

        Activities are key. They will change your life if you make it a priority to do them daily.
        When you find the right activities, your success story might still be going after 1000 days.

      • May 26, 2023 at 8:13 pm #17597
        timcia
        Keymaster

          We can’t allow negatives like anxiety, anger, frustration, or any other negative emotion to rule us. If we don’t go to war with these issues or any issues like them, they will keep us flirting with darkness. When we have an issue we must attack it. For example, we are home alone, and we are frustrated, and there is nothing that we want to do. Consider praying:
          “Father, teach me how to pray about this.”
          Take 10 minutes to pray about how you will go to war. God may show you to pray something like:
          “Father, take away this habit of drinking/drugs and help me to be content.”
          Or, He may show you another prayer to focus on.
          Second, if we flirt with darkness we start skiing downhill faster and faster towards total darkness. Keep in mind that Jesus is the light, but if we do nothing we activate darkness. We need to do something spiritual to activate the light. There is no middle ground. We do something to go up into the light, or we do nothing and go downhill fast.
          Today, have certain verses ready to help you go up. Have specific prayers ready to fight against what is troubling you.
          Finally, determine to live in peace and light. Consider praying:
          “Father, help me to fight sin and fill me with Your peace.”
          When we focus on peace and contentment we start going up.
          Consider memorizing: 1 Timothy 6:6 But Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
          When we fight the negatives while we pray about the positives, we start to make solid progress.

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