If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
-John Wooden
I’m an impatient person; most of us can say that with honesty. Almost all my mistakes (big and small) have been made in haste, rushing forward without thinking things through, in a hurry to feel good NOW! Can you relate? I bet you can.
Well, I’ve learned a little patience through running and exercise. I remember my first real break through about 8 years ago while training for my first marathon. Not only did I have to patiently and slowly build my weekly mileage, I had to learn how to really SLOW down on those long runs. Not to mention that it took 4 months to prepare my body and mind. The eureka moment came when I noticed that I could stay on a task like driving all day or working on a difficult engineering problem much longer than before. I could focus longer and be patient.
In addiction, we wreck our internal reward system to the point that we struggle to control impulses. We want it and we want it now, usually regardless of consequences later. I won’t get into all the science here but I think we all agree that instant gratification and impulse control are big problems in our addiction, recovery and society at large.
Consider trying a new coping skill, by starting a regular exercise program. It really helped me heal. You don’t have to run a marathon to learn this, just start taking some extra steps each day. Let us know how we can help you on this journey. I still have a ways to go and would love some company.