Battling Unhealthy Habits During An Occassion
With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee right around the corner it’s time for a celebration for those who happen to share an interest in the royals or just like a reason to celebrate. And why not? We are social creatures after all.
People may be flocking together in numbers with good spirits all around. On the surface, it can look as though everyone is having a great time but sometimes shiny surfaces reflect much more than they reveal.
This can be a time of great turmoil for others; social occasions are normally the cause of relapse, especially when it comes to smoking and alcohol consumption, as much as 60%.
People don’t want to avoid these occasions and the pressure of conforming to peer pressure and temptation is at an all-time high in these environments especcially amongst friends and family.
So what are a few points that can be done to minimise the chance of a complete relapse, if we are in the process of trying to ditch our unhealthy habits?
First of all, let’s prepare for the worst case scenario ……. a lapse:
Assuming our will-power is beaten and we’ve hit an all-time low. Understand that lapses are part of the process of change, no one is perfect and this one moment of weakness does not define you completely as a person.
Let’s see this as a learning opportunity, turn that failure into feedback.
Bouncing back quicker can be a sign of improvement, if in the past it has led to consecutive days of repeated behaviour, but this time you had just the one or two bad days. You see a person is made up of good qualities and bad therefore you can never be complete defined as a failure, the opportinutiy for you to change always exists so let’s accept what’s happened it get straight back on the horse.
Explaining to friends in advance:
There is nothing wrong about you wanting to better yourself and I would argue that someone that is not accepting of this within your close circle is not necessarily a good friend, as they don't have your best interests at heart.
You decide what is most rational for your life, what’s most optimal for you.
If the thought of confronting a friend in advance seems like a daunting task I would consider you investigating further why you feel that way, what underlying beliefs are preventing you?
Having strong support is essential, someone you can confide in who doesn’t judge is the kind of person you need.
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