Hey there.
When I red your post it reminded me of these days, when the head got clearer after quitting… I went back and see I wrote somethings that I did at the beginning of sobriety, and maybe this exercice could interest you:
« 1. Writing down what is supporting the short, mid and long term goal of abstinence: What do you want out of your life? Take a piece of paper (or a couple of them) and write down all that come out of your mind. Writing isn’t an option, this is how it works. Putting words out of your mind and put it out so you can come back to it. For me it consisted of taking time to search in my mind and write what are my principles, my values, my visions of life and what are my goals in different areas in my life. I come back to this very often now even when feeling uncertain about things that aren’t related to addiction at all. »
This is an exercice that was given to me by an outpatient addiction therapist. It helped me to, at the same time, considering what activities would help me maintain my sobriety (or caring for like Matt said) while also digging into myself to think about what I wanted to do, what was align with my values, what I wanted out of life sort of. It was a challenging exercice but helped me figured out what was out of line and what I was missing.
And for your question I’d say you can do anything as long as it comes from within yourself. Like you said everyone is different. Some people have to give up everything and some other have to give themselves entirely to something to quit. I think if you stay close to your needs and you listen to your body you can try anything. I wouldn’t think of it as “adding” something (damn life is hard if I think about all the things I do as if they pile up!! That’s exhausting ) If it does feel like you’d be “adding” too much on your plate maybe that tells something about your need : maybe you need space, comfort, social activities without pressure, maybe you need nature, meditation, nonsense drawing, etc.
Also, if you stay close to your needs and try to explore them, you could be changing in the direction you want without forgetting your fragility about addiction. The error I made couple years ago was adding a lot of training and work without listening to me. Id burn out and forget that under all those activities I was still an addict , and when I was exhausted I had no self control and relapsed. Last time I quit in 2020 I did train and work and all, but never at the price of forgetting my needs and my vulnerability. I’d say my vulnerability is what guides me through my recovery, and it still is today.
Be creative, be healthy, enjoy social - as long as you feel really ok about this and respect your own rythm.
Hope you find your way !!