I think changing your mindset on rest days can help you look forward to them and enjoy them. Try viewing rest day as a part of your training/goals, just like sleep and diet. Rest days also don't have to be a day where you do nothing or don't exercise. Rest day might be going for a stroll or a swim or binging on a tv series, listening to a book or podcast. What you need to know is that you've earned your rest day. I used to feel restless on rest day at times too, but once I decided to have a day of the week that was always my rest day, I found myself looking forward to it. I trained so hard, that I found myself thinking I'm so glad it's rest day tomorrow, I really need the sleep in and the break. If I felt like it, I'd go for a walk because it's different from being in the gym. I lot of people who work labour intensive jobs cite their reason for not exercising is because their job is so physical. I can relate to it, but also understand that exercising will help me be able to do my job better. Exercise for a person in a physical job is important because our bodies need a change of intensity for fitness. So I view the importance of rest days for me the same way exercise is important for the demands of my job. (If this makes any sense at all). Sometimes life happens though, and you might not be ready for your rest day or you might feel you need it earlier than scheduled. This is where we need to be open do adaptability and go, I'm actually really tired today, so I'm going to get a bit more sleep and instead of having a rest day tomorrow, I will rest today and train tomorrow. Listen to your body, sickness and pain is our bodys way of communicating with us. Exercise is stress on the body, if you already have a lot going on then exercising is adding more stress to your body. This is why it's important to rest when sick, your immune system is already working hard to fight off the virus and get you better, if you add exercise then you are stressing an already stressed system and will delay getting better.
In regard to the rehab centres, I think the fact that people can choose to be there and aren't being held against their will can increase their likelihood to succeed. She is there by choose and knows she CAN choose to leave if she wants to and that would make her feel so empowered before her journey has even started. We want empowered people, not victims who are being forced to do something they aren't ready for. You are right in that addiction is addiction. I had a friend ask me once, that if drugs were legal would I experiment with them. My answer was, alcohol is legal and I don't drink much of that so legality is not the reason why I'm not interested.
If you haven't listened to it already, Atomic Habits by James clear is really good. Your sobriety is no doubt hard work and every day you go without it, is another day of continuing your habit of not drinking. Clear says that, missing once is a mistake, but missing twice is forming a new habit, never miss twice.
I also agree with celebrating milestones, at some point society decided it was a think. But people need to do whatever helps them reach their goals. If it's counting how many days or weeks you've been smoke or alcohol free then you do you :).
The science of wellbeing is a free course that I did on Coursera, I did it during lockdown in 2020. It was really great and there is no time limit on it. It's largely based around the things we think will make us happy isn't actually what makes us happy and explains why you don't feel the way we think we will when we achieve what we think we wanted to achieve. https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
Mate, ya gotta have a car fridge! Handiest investment I’ve ever made. Helps me eat better when I’m working away. But also handy for the perishables!
I agree with you entirely about rest days. And yeah, it’s made sense, to me? Maybe you are adhd? Haha. I tell other people they need to have them haha. I just have to learn how to fill them with stuff that energises me. I think meal prep, life admin crap, making sure I have less monotonous crap to worry about through the week is a good place to start. But just going it slowly, have the attitude of, whatever I get is a bonus and if I get none of it done, so be it. As my young fella gets older I want to start setting aside a block of time every Sunday where we do something too. Doesn’t even matter what it is. Just making the habit of spending that time with him every week, no matter what.
I guess you’re right about rehabs. If people don’t want to be there they probably won’t actively participate anyway. I guess I have to trust those who know better than me. Just worrying that if Susan has a rough day she could throw all this hard work away and just walk out. Again, just gotta trust they’re creating an environment that she doesn’t want to leave.
I’ve listened to atomic habits. It didn’t grab me that much but I agree with that sentiment. Kinda like, you don’t lose if you learn.
I might actually have a look at that. I’m keen to see how I would go studying now properly medicated and not clouding my brain with so much crap anymore. Why not try it on a free one on a topic I’m interested in!
Haha maybe?! who knows. I mostly just wanted to check because sometimes I feel like I'm rambling haha.
Science of Wellbeing I feel is a great introduction to forming a study type habit. There is no real right or wrong in the course, it's simply providing you with the knowledge and tools to apply to your own life. Being interested is all you need to apply yourself in study, that's all the motivation you need and feeding your brain with knowledge often just gives you more fuel.
Another cracking read mate and thanks for the kind words.
I think people struggle to do nothing and be present for 2 reasons:
1. When their mind isn’t being busy, they have time to to think about the past, which often brings up undealt with regrets or;
2. They worry about the uncertain future, and in some cases, the inevitable prospect of death. I know this was the case for me during school holidays or the rugby offseason. When I had down time i would have these panic attacks from as young as 10 years old about dying. But I’ve realised those moments are when my life didn’t have much purpose (no school or footy) and now my life has purpose every day (raise a family while trying to help people have more energy) and those panic attacks have gone away.
No worries mate, you guys have helped me a lot through all of this “journey”, hate using that word.
I think you’re right. Once you find a bit of purpose you can use the time where you’re physically recharging to kind of let your thoughts drift in and out of what you want to do next or whatever, just not so actively.
I was the same, I had the biggest fear of dying. I used to be, and still am somewhat afraid of catastrophe. Bushfires, earthquakes, tsunamis etc. an irrational fear of something most unlikely due to the inability to slow my brain down.
Man, I’m not great at it still. That’s sort of what I was asking for help for. My son is helping. Gardening helps, which is about to kick off again! Since I’ve been sober I’ve been relying too heavily on exercise and doing stuff around the house. That’s not sustainable though. That’s why I’m at this point where I need to find alternatives
Reading and writing massively helps me. Also being clear about what I want in life also helps because it makes prioritising what I should be doing easier, as having too much on my plate makes my head go 100mph.
Yep. I’m not a big reader but writing, audiobooks and podcasts are the same for me. Kind of forces you to think about what you’re interested in.
I feel like I’ve never truly known exactly what I want in life. I’ve had a rough idea, but I’ve never been certain enough to want to implement the change required to get it.
That said, through sobriety, writing, psychology and a desire to Divalls figure it out, it’s getting clearer and clearer every day and I’m finding myself gravitating towards it organically.
Firstly, I love that you have a car fridge!
I think changing your mindset on rest days can help you look forward to them and enjoy them. Try viewing rest day as a part of your training/goals, just like sleep and diet. Rest days also don't have to be a day where you do nothing or don't exercise. Rest day might be going for a stroll or a swim or binging on a tv series, listening to a book or podcast. What you need to know is that you've earned your rest day. I used to feel restless on rest day at times too, but once I decided to have a day of the week that was always my rest day, I found myself looking forward to it. I trained so hard, that I found myself thinking I'm so glad it's rest day tomorrow, I really need the sleep in and the break. If I felt like it, I'd go for a walk because it's different from being in the gym. I lot of people who work labour intensive jobs cite their reason for not exercising is because their job is so physical. I can relate to it, but also understand that exercising will help me be able to do my job better. Exercise for a person in a physical job is important because our bodies need a change of intensity for fitness. So I view the importance of rest days for me the same way exercise is important for the demands of my job. (If this makes any sense at all). Sometimes life happens though, and you might not be ready for your rest day or you might feel you need it earlier than scheduled. This is where we need to be open do adaptability and go, I'm actually really tired today, so I'm going to get a bit more sleep and instead of having a rest day tomorrow, I will rest today and train tomorrow. Listen to your body, sickness and pain is our bodys way of communicating with us. Exercise is stress on the body, if you already have a lot going on then exercising is adding more stress to your body. This is why it's important to rest when sick, your immune system is already working hard to fight off the virus and get you better, if you add exercise then you are stressing an already stressed system and will delay getting better.
In regard to the rehab centres, I think the fact that people can choose to be there and aren't being held against their will can increase their likelihood to succeed. She is there by choose and knows she CAN choose to leave if she wants to and that would make her feel so empowered before her journey has even started. We want empowered people, not victims who are being forced to do something they aren't ready for. You are right in that addiction is addiction. I had a friend ask me once, that if drugs were legal would I experiment with them. My answer was, alcohol is legal and I don't drink much of that so legality is not the reason why I'm not interested.
If you haven't listened to it already, Atomic Habits by James clear is really good. Your sobriety is no doubt hard work and every day you go without it, is another day of continuing your habit of not drinking. Clear says that, missing once is a mistake, but missing twice is forming a new habit, never miss twice.
I also agree with celebrating milestones, at some point society decided it was a think. But people need to do whatever helps them reach their goals. If it's counting how many days or weeks you've been smoke or alcohol free then you do you :).
The science of wellbeing is a free course that I did on Coursera, I did it during lockdown in 2020. It was really great and there is no time limit on it. It's largely based around the things we think will make us happy isn't actually what makes us happy and explains why you don't feel the way we think we will when we achieve what we think we wanted to achieve. https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
Mate, ya gotta have a car fridge! Handiest investment I’ve ever made. Helps me eat better when I’m working away. But also handy for the perishables!
I agree with you entirely about rest days. And yeah, it’s made sense, to me? Maybe you are adhd? Haha. I tell other people they need to have them haha. I just have to learn how to fill them with stuff that energises me. I think meal prep, life admin crap, making sure I have less monotonous crap to worry about through the week is a good place to start. But just going it slowly, have the attitude of, whatever I get is a bonus and if I get none of it done, so be it. As my young fella gets older I want to start setting aside a block of time every Sunday where we do something too. Doesn’t even matter what it is. Just making the habit of spending that time with him every week, no matter what.
I guess you’re right about rehabs. If people don’t want to be there they probably won’t actively participate anyway. I guess I have to trust those who know better than me. Just worrying that if Susan has a rough day she could throw all this hard work away and just walk out. Again, just gotta trust they’re creating an environment that she doesn’t want to leave.
I’ve listened to atomic habits. It didn’t grab me that much but I agree with that sentiment. Kinda like, you don’t lose if you learn.
I might actually have a look at that. I’m keen to see how I would go studying now properly medicated and not clouding my brain with so much crap anymore. Why not try it on a free one on a topic I’m interested in!
Haha maybe?! who knows. I mostly just wanted to check because sometimes I feel like I'm rambling haha.
Science of Wellbeing I feel is a great introduction to forming a study type habit. There is no real right or wrong in the course, it's simply providing you with the knowledge and tools to apply to your own life. Being interested is all you need to apply yourself in study, that's all the motivation you need and feeding your brain with knowledge often just gives you more fuel.
That’s what we come here for, ramblings.
Yeah it sounds interesting and it has no real potential negative consequences. I’ll have a look on the weekend.
Another cracking read mate and thanks for the kind words.
I think people struggle to do nothing and be present for 2 reasons:
1. When their mind isn’t being busy, they have time to to think about the past, which often brings up undealt with regrets or;
2. They worry about the uncertain future, and in some cases, the inevitable prospect of death. I know this was the case for me during school holidays or the rugby offseason. When I had down time i would have these panic attacks from as young as 10 years old about dying. But I’ve realised those moments are when my life didn’t have much purpose (no school or footy) and now my life has purpose every day (raise a family while trying to help people have more energy) and those panic attacks have gone away.
No worries mate, you guys have helped me a lot through all of this “journey”, hate using that word.
I think you’re right. Once you find a bit of purpose you can use the time where you’re physically recharging to kind of let your thoughts drift in and out of what you want to do next or whatever, just not so actively.
I was the same, I had the biggest fear of dying. I used to be, and still am somewhat afraid of catastrophe. Bushfires, earthquakes, tsunamis etc. an irrational fear of something most unlikely due to the inability to slow my brain down.
What do you do to slow your brain down?
Man, I’m not great at it still. That’s sort of what I was asking for help for. My son is helping. Gardening helps, which is about to kick off again! Since I’ve been sober I’ve been relying too heavily on exercise and doing stuff around the house. That’s not sustainable though. That’s why I’m at this point where I need to find alternatives
Reading and writing massively helps me. Also being clear about what I want in life also helps because it makes prioritising what I should be doing easier, as having too much on my plate makes my head go 100mph.
Yep. I’m not a big reader but writing, audiobooks and podcasts are the same for me. Kind of forces you to think about what you’re interested in.
I feel like I’ve never truly known exactly what I want in life. I’ve had a rough idea, but I’ve never been certain enough to want to implement the change required to get it.
That said, through sobriety, writing, psychology and a desire to Divalls figure it out, it’s getting clearer and clearer every day and I’m finding myself gravitating towards it organically.