How to Get Through Recovery

Published On: August 5, 20154.2 min read830 wordsCategories: Recovery

While your treatment for drug and alcohol use may have an official start and end date, recovery from addiction never ends. Sobriety requires a lifetime of commitment because relapse could sneak up years or even decades after your last use when you’re not actively working towards healing and handling triggers.

Considering a lifetime of work sounds overwhelming, but it’s much better than the alternative. Remaining in addiction can decimate your relationships, your health, your finances, your mental wellness, your goals for your life and everything you care about. It’s dangerous and it sucks away your personality.

Recovery is no walk in the park, but it’s your best option and the smoothest path to freedom. Here are the best addiction recovery tips to keep you focused and motivated toward reclaiming your life.

1. Take it day by day

When you’re in a hopeful mood, looking at the big picture can offer purpose and inspiration. Chances are, you’re not as tempted to use on those days you feel good, though. On the rough days of recovery, take it one day at a time. While a month of fighting the same triggers over and over again can seem insurmountable, one more day of mental toughness can feel possible to accomplish. Soon enough, you’ll catch a break.

2. Do the work of recovery

You can’t skate through recovery. Healing and growing are active processes, and passively going through the motions of recovery is only wasting your own time. You have to commit to the challenge of sobriety voluntarily. Even though you may have copious support and every resource at your fingertips, only you can keep yourself sober when the rubber hits the road.

3. Find gratitude

When you’re in the heat of the moment it’s easy to only see the negative and project that onto all of your experiences. Your life isn’t just an endless stream of tough luck, though, and no matter where you’re on the road to recovery, you have things to be thankful for. One of the best addiction recovery tips is to ponder all the little things you enjoy. This grounding experience can change your whole outlook and incline you to notice the positive.

4. Focus on what you can do

Sure, you’ve lived through hard times and more hard times will come, but dwelling in the past or the future prevents you from enjoying the present and living life intentionally. Focus on the present to minimize stress and find a strong sense of personal agency in your sobriety journey.

5. Be optimistic

There’s nothing that drains energy like being around someone who has a complaint about everything. Imagine how depleting it is to have this type of self-talk! Negative, distorted thinking cycles are harmful to you most of all, so finding ways to acknowledge your thinking patterns and replace them with more logic-based and positive patterns will do wonders in the long run.

6. Find your community

Leaving addiction behind can leave you feeling purposeless and lonely. The best antidote? Find a community that shares the same values and is committed to sobriety. The people you surround yourself with can lift you up on your hardest day and keep you accountable for your goals. Your past crowd may have pressured you to use drugs or alcohol, but true friends will do what’s best for you and support your recovery.

7. Take care of yourself

Your body is where you spend every day of your life, so the investment of time and energy that you put into taking care of your health you’ll reap tenfold. Start with regular movement, healthy eating, total abstinence from alcohol, therapy and mindfulness. Other top recovery tips include regular exercise, time outside and self-care that feels good.

8. Find meaningful activities

Friends and family can help us feel valued, but giving back will make imbue your whole life with meaning. There are endless opportunities to serve, whether you volunteer at a local food pantry, organize donations at a thrift store, offer your technical expertise to the elderly or invest in giving back to the recovery community. When you’re free from addiction and you have the mental and physical capacity to serve others, you’ll find recovery is the most rewarding experience you could have given yourself.

9. Be proud of the progress you’ve made

Healing from a substance use disorder is hard and many people fall back into addiction. Whether you’ve been sober for a week or ten years, your progress deserves some applause. The hard work you’ve put in will all be worth it when you look back on your life. Share your story and your best recovery tips with others to inspire hope and defeat the stigma around substance use disorders.

10. Inspire others to seek professional care

If you’re in active recovery, there’s no need to walk the road alone. Secure your progress and call Freedom Detox for compassionate and professional care catered to your needs. Personalized treatment plans and evidence-based programming can bring you one step closer to lifelong freedom. Call now.

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