Thing is if your life has literally revolved around substance taking, you sort of forget how to do other things. And if you stop or significantly reduce, you suddenly find yourself with all this time on your hands that you can't think what to do with. For instance I often found myself drinking when I didn't even particularly WANT a drink, for no other reason than I just had no idea what to do with myself.
It's really the element of inertia that's often underestimated.
And the other thing about drugging or drinking is, it's an such an easy activity. It requires no mental effort. And it can be comforting remaining stuck in a rut, even if you've started to make your own life miserable, purely because of the familiarity of the situation.
Like I used to get up in the mornings and knew exactly what I was gonna do all day till bedtime : find cash for heroin, score heroin, do heroin; rinse and repeat.
It was a very limited existence but at least I knew its parameters. As long as I kept on like that I didn't have to consider the bigger picture. I didn't have to make difficult choices or ask myself difficult questions. I didn't have to try and find motivation for anything or learn anything, because there was no spare time or energy for anything else.
Change is scary even if it's change for the better, simply because it means things are DIFFERENT.
It really required a process to re-learn things I used to enjoy before, and discover new ones. It was difficult at first but also increasingly rewarding.
The important thing is to find something you really have a passion for; you have to be wanting to do that thing for its own sake. NOT as a 'distraction' from or 'replacement' for getting off your nut, because that 's a secondary motivation that will only carry you so far, and ultimately you' ll go back to doing the thing you were wanting to REALLY be doing all along.
For instance I'm not doing any of the activities and hobbies I do SO THAT I DON'T DO DRUGS. I do these things because I WANT TO BE DOING THESE THINGS. And when I'm doing them I don't want to be using. My focus just shifts.
And whatever you find fulfilling and enjoyable will be individual to yourself. Don't copy other people. People constantly get these generalised recommendations like 'you should take up exercise' or 'you need to be creative'.
And then those same people scratch their heads and go, 'oh but since XYZ started going to the gym he' s stopped drinking, why is it working for this other person but not for me? ' ... Because that other person is not you.
By all means start running or painting if that's something that appeals to you, but if it doesn't it's pointless. Because maybe what really floats your boat is something completely different. You can't prescribe some specific activity that will magically make a person quit or moderate.
Finding out what gives you joy and excitement etc is a job for that individual.
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