Learning something new can have a positive impact in recovery. I am learning more and more about gardening and how to make a really productive healthy soil with materials that are free and easily available. It’s fun and helps me feel like I am working toward something through all the seasons through soil preparation, growing, harvesting, composting, etc.
It’s just one example. I as a gambler became very (by definition I suppose) compulsive. I guess I was a bit obsessive too, because I really focused on a very narrow range of things nearly all the time.
I also do yoga and I am working toward building a habit out of it but I’m not there yet. I am beginning to understand better that life is not pass/fail. It’s a process. Sometimes I stick to my plan and sometimes I don’t, but I am still working on it and am not a failure for not doing yoga every day. Or put another way, I am a success for doing it some days.
Learning things and forming new, more positive habits can do a really good job of occupying most all of my time. Then there isn’t time to gamble (or time to think about gambling). It’s working for me and I am now more than 13 months gamble free.