Self-control can come at a cost. The human mind and body are capable of amazing things. Mothers have lifted cars to save their children. Men have exerted super hero like athletic ability in order to win a championship. Some call it talent, some a gift from a higher power, others a sheer matter of willpower. We can will ourselves into doing just about anything and maintain self-control in order to do it. For example, men who have lived with active addiction to drugs and alcohol find the willpower to get sober and exact their self-control to stay sober. On days when life feels ‘easy’ this will power and self-control are effortless. On other days when men are ‘white-knuckling’, gritting their teeth, and pushing as hard as they can, the stress is high.
A study out of Northwestern University examined stress and self-control in teenagers. Teens who had a greater ability to practice self-control were better able to resist temptations in their lives. Men who do not find the ability to control and regulate themselves in recovery constantly fall back into the hands of temptation and relapse into active addiction again. Many men, who have both relapsed and stayed sober, have realized that sheer willpower isn’t enough. Men have to undergo a total transformation of mind, body, and spirit, making sustainable changes in order to create a sustainable recovery. The study found something interesting about the teens with strong self-control. These teens had more signs of stress in their body and had premature aging taking place in their cells.
Self-control without the stress
Self-control can be stress free when it stops being an effort and becomes effortless. There is a distinguished difference in men who are recovering when they are trying to stay sober versus when they live sober. Not all men experience an immediate relief from the obsession and cravings which come with addiction. However, the men who adopt transformational principles in their life in order to create a total lifestyle change are the ones who don’t struggle with their sobriety. Compassion, gratitude, and healthy pride, are proven principles of living which create significant change in a man’s life. When a man is living more compassionately, he is living less selfishly. When he lives in gratitude, he lives without resentment. When he lives with healthy pride, he lives free from the shackles of a misguided ego. No longer does he struggle for self-control. He is the master of his own life, the creator of his own destiny. Addiction becomes a thing of the past.