This perspective can help you stay motivated and committed to your recovery goals, even when times are tough. When you are truly grateful for something, it is harder for you to do the opposite. In the case of drugs or alcohol, if you are grateful to be off them, you are unlikely to start using them again. According to the University of California, Berkley, gratitude offers both physical and mental benefits. It can help with blood pressure, heart rate, happiness, optimism, and feelings of loneliness and isolation.This belief is not unfounded.
And while it may sound a bit “hippie” and spiritual, this valuable practice is strongly encouraged by most therapists and counselors. In particular, individuals are urged to practice gratitude in recovery. A great way to take the focus off yourself and your own difficulties is to help others.
Have a Gratitude Routine
It probably involved hitting several low points and tough times along the way, and those pitfalls still occur after recovery begins. Sometimes the effort involved in recovery can make the struggles of a tough time feel even worse. Gratitude can help keep your focus on the progress, not the setback.
- Figuring that out is a natural first step in the mindful gratitude journey.
- Robert A. Kent currently serves as the Vice President of Advocacy and General Counsel for the American Association of Orthodontists (“AAO”) where he represents the interests of AAO nationally.
- Gratitude opens the door to positive emotions and experiences that can nourish our minds and bodies.
- All of which makes for a healthier, happier, and more fulfilled you.
- Being kind to loved ones, friends, and strangers, regardless of the type of day you’re having, is an honorable way to live.
- Connie earned her MS in Health Services Administration from Sage Graduate School.
She is grateful to be a Power Mom Team member at MomPower.org, an organization whose mission it is to help moms with addicted children find strength, wisdom, perspective, sanity, and hope. “The support from the tour, from people outside the golf world, has been tremendous for me and my family,” Woodland said. “When I woke up and realized I was OK, I was filled with thankfulness and love. Practicing gratitude in recovery not only affects the thoughts and behaviors of those suffering from addiction or dual diagnosis, but it also has profound implications on the way we interact with the world around us. Gratitude allows an individual to celebrate the present and be an active participant in their life. Conditioning your mind to be thankful instead of sorry is a sure sign your attitude of gratitude is improving.
Gratitude Helps Recovery
You’ve already taken the first steps on the road to happiness, and over time, your gratitude, mental health and general outlook on life will all improve. Chances are if you have been in recovery for more than a day or two, you have heard someone talk about gratitude. As a core principle of many recovery programs, the word gratitude gets thrown around a lot.
Helping others goes hand in hand with gratitude to promote a positive outlook. Volunteer your time, or join a support group to share your experiences with addiction and help others in similar circumstances find their way to recovery. Mistakes can and do happen – sobriety slips, resolutions are broken.
Why Gratitude?
You could draw, write, paint, garden, smith, smash pumpkins, whatever. Get in touch with your creative side, especially if you haven’t before. It’s a great way to process tough emotions and trauma, and it’s a whole new language to view and express yourself. Without gratitude, life is endless work with no real meaning and no detectable results. …then read on to learn the benefits, get some tips to maximize your efforts and see how it all ties together to form the happiest version of you.
Although it seems like a trivial thing, practicing gratitude is taught in many holistic therapies around the world. In the eastern philosophy gratitude is known as the key to happiness. When someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol, getting and using them becomes a priority –and recovery should be a priority as well.
Why is Gratitude Important in Recovery?
Practicing gratitude is all about being grateful and thankful for what you have. When you focus on all the things you don’t have, it creates an attitude of ungratefulness and fosters negative emotions like jealousy gratitude and recovery and anger. Negativity can be detrimental to your recovery and make a life in sobriety seem dark, empty, and lonely. If you recently left treatment or you’re new to recovery, be patient with yourself.
- Taking time to say “thank you” to your partner or even to your employees has been demonstrated to improve how you work as a team.
- You feel a deep sense of pride and accomplishment for all your hard work and good intentions, and you look for opportunities to connect with people, the world, the moment.
- Recovery can give people with addictions the opportunity to repair relationships broken by substance abuse, and to move forward in healthier ways.
- But now that we deliberately manifest gratitude, we see the best qualities in any given moment, person and situation, and it creates a positive feedback loop where we draw out the best in others.
- Gratitude in recovery comes more naturally to some people than others.
- As the road twists and turns, some moments will feel like a pleasant stroll while others will feel like a perilous voyage.