The early stages of recovery can be an emotionally tough time for someone just starting out on their recovery journey. If you are trying to maintain sobriety, you may be working on rebuilding healthy relationships with family members and loved ones, re-establishing your career, or finding a comfortable housing situation. External stressors like these may weigh you down, but it is important to remember how to give yourself the gratitude you deserve. Learn how to be gracious towards yourself during temptation, stressful times, and more!
Being Gracious During Temptation
Life scenarios and stress may tempt you to use drugs and/or alcohol again. You may even be dwelling on how you’ll react when you first experience temptation. In situations like this, it is important to remember that you have worked really hard to regain a sense of freedom from your past life.
With recovery, there comes a sense of freedom from drugs and alcohol. This may cause you to experience a fear of relapse. This is a normal reaction to being sober and for situations like this, we have found five sobriety recovery apps that will help you identify the triggers that may cause a relapse or things that make you think less of yourself.
Dwelling on negative thoughts or stressors can be detrimental to your recovery. Learning to view the world with a perspective of gratitude can help you focus on the positive aspects of your new lifestyle, and turn any roadblocks or negative experiences into positive opportunities.
How to Show Yourself Gratitude
Showing gratitude towards others (like friends and family) can help you strengthen your bond with them. These relationships can also allow you to accept any previous wrongdoings and forgive yourself for your past actions or the wrong that you may have done to someone you care about. A good time to reflect on your achievements to date is during moments of intentional self-care.
Self-care is very important during recovery. Set time aside to rest and do things for yourself like taking a bath, going for an intentional walk, reading a book, or participating in a new hobby. Self-care allows our minds and bodies to rest, while also getting our thoughts off of stressful times or current life scenarios. During this time, reflect on your positive achievements and give yourself credit for how far you have come.
There are many benefits of incorporating gratitude into your daily life, but most importantly it is a positive perspective that will make it less likely for you to return to the damaging behaviors of addiction. Finding the good in every situation can help reduce your stress and anxiety, even when it seems like things are going wrong or when you may feel like a failure. Having a more positive mindset will also be helpful when it comes to dismissing ungrateful thoughts about yourself.
How to Dismiss Ungrateful Thoughts
It’s natural to feel disappointed when things don’t go our way. It’s easy to be grateful when something good happens to us in our lives, but learning to be grateful for all of our interactions and experiences can be difficult. If you find yourself falling into this trap, reflect on the strides you have made in another area of your life or how a particular event has made you a better person. You may also want to think about the future and a goal or two you are trying to reach. This will allow you to see how far you have come and gear up for what is next.
It’s not always easy to show gratitude to yourself, but by working towards a more grateful mindset, you may be able to walk an easier path during your journey of long-term recovery. Need further assistance in incorporating more gratitude into your life? Contact our counseling center today! We are here to help.