5 Ways To Find Fulfillment and Satisfaction Sitting Quietly Alone.
Feeling fulfilled is the Answer to Becoming Truly Successful in Life
How To Win Friends and Influence People. In this recent return to my recovery, being fulfilled in my daily activities and present life situation has emerged as the true answer I’ve been seeking. Heroin brought satisfaction to my life. My goals were simple and easy to attain when I used. Make money, cop dope …and get gone. Yup. That was the art of fulfillment. I was fucking good at it. All junkies are good at chasing the dope-sickness away.
When I relapsed 10 years ago, I was seeking to fill a void that remained in my life. Recently I realized while waiting impatiently at the doctor’s office that the void was still lurking inside. I met with a mentor, another addictions counselor and discussed my incurable impatience. I unknowingly said, “I have to go to the fucking doctor today and wait. I swear they make me wait on purpose. I am always there 3 hours before I am seen. I can only read so much before I lose my mind.”
She laughed and said, “Johnny, when are you going to learn to love you? Once I was able to realize that I was my best friend, I couldn’t wait for the time when I was alone with me. It’s not often in our life that someone or thing isn’t nagging us.”
“So you are saying you can sit for three hours patiently?”
“Yes, I can. I don’t have to read, play my phone, or talk to anyone. I sit on a beach with me. I am satisfied with me.”
That was what I needed. The lightbulb finally went on over my head. I knew I needed to forgive myself and love myself; this would lead to fulfillment and fill that void. Now I have routines and systems in place. I check myself and my sense of satisfaction. I had to forgive myself and become my best friend.
5 points to focus on when building a sense of
satisfaction and fulfillment within yourself:
1. Gratitude leads to satisfaction
The reason gratitude makes it to so many lists is because it is a powerful action. When you express and feel your gratitude you cannot be negative or upset with a situation. Gratitude is the quickest way to find satisfaction in the here and now of your life. In regards to my waiting, I even found gratitude in that moment because no one was asking to take my time from being with my best friend.
[ctt template=”4″ link=”25xY3″ via=”yes” ]By expressing gratitude with myself inwardly and outwardly to others you will remain positive and have a more pleasant life-experience. [/ctt]
2. Meditate.
I’ve learned to sit quietly when I wait at the doctor’s office. I am not a yogi master and I am lucky if I can sit quietly for 5 minutes, concentrating on my breathing, before I begin to fidget. Still, sitting and waiting is a perfect time to shut out the world and find peace inside. Now I make sure to meditate throughout the day, especially when I sense that I am not aligned with my inner-self and best friend. With meditation, your inner-self can be your best friend, too.
3. Avoiding Distraction.
It isn’t easy to avoid distraction. There’s always something calling me away from quietly spending time with myself. My reading list grows larger with each book I finish. Reading is not my only distraction. There’s also social media, my phone, and Goals on Track app, to name a few. Luckily, news had been removed from my life while I was strung out on the streets. I never cared about negative shit happening in the world. I was the negative shit that was happening.
When I sobered up I didn’t feel the need to bog my head down with whatever the media felt newsworthy. If the world is about to get hit by an asteroid, I am sure I will figure it out without NBC. Don’t listen to the negative unworthy news that builds fear and anger in your life. Read about the fireman that helped the kitten out of the tree instead and experience a nice warm fuzzy feeling. Find time to be alone with yourself today and every day.
4. Exercise
Exercise helps you reach fulfillment in your life. When you are working out you are building the body you need to love. The time you spend is with yourself, pushing yourself, reaching new heights and feeling energized. I cannot think of a better way to find satisfaction in your life. Every Time you put aside the time to exercise you are saying to yourself, “I love you and I want to spend many more great years with you.” Find the time each day to condition your body, so you can be at your best throughout daily activities.
5 Journaling.
Naturally, I could not write a list post without mentioning, journaling. I can’t because the power of journaling is amazing. This is where I store all my victories and defeats. When you journal you are speaking to yourself on paper. Sometimes you are breaking through barriers by brainstorming with pen and paper. I am big on using pen and paper. It is more fun this way. I find when I keep journal’s online I rarely go back and read the entries.
[ctt template=”4″ link=”5JvA8″ via=”yes” ]A traditional journal just opens to any page and pulls me in. I recommend journaling with pen and paper. [/ctt]
Journaling helps to:
- Objectively relive situations
- Learn where you need to perform better
- Understand how to reach fulfillment in life
- Keep track of accomplishments
- Remind yourself that you love you, just for being you
Finding satisfaction in life is key to reaching happiness. When you hear stories of people struggling through hardships and not losing hope or of families living in poverty and always seeming happy and fulfilled it warms our hearts. Perhaps we wonder what it is that makes them so happy. Is it God Religion? Or maybe, it’s that there’s never been anything better. So nothing is actually missing? Or is it all of this – or something more?
I believe it might be a mixture of the above. Rising from the depths of homelessness and a heroin addiction is an experience that I wish on no human.
Being the owner of three businesses of which I shot in my veins.
I had a void in my life that was never filled. I’m not a religious man. I tried to find a god to fill that void. It helped a little but I still felt the emptiness inside. Vast sums of money, property, and expensive toys didn’t do it. Fame and the excitement of creating loud, live noisy music didn’t do it.
I eventually sought to fill that void with a big fat shot of heroin, again. Knowing that it was not the answer and it would eventually destroy me. And you know what?
It filled no void and it took it all away.
Now I’m back and I’m finding I’ve found a way to be satisfied. I no longer am filled with regret. Nor do I hate myself for my past.
How do you find satisfaction and fulfillment in your life, recovery, in a quiet Sunday afternoon?