Gratitude can help you concentrate on the positive aspects of your situation rather than dwelling on the negative ones. It can also help you cope with stress, improve mood, and enhance relationships. According to the American Psychological Association, gratitude is a sense of happiness and thankfulness when to receiving a gift or experiencing a fortunate event.
Committing Your Gratitude to Writing
- There are many guided meditations on different meditation apps or YouTube that are free.
- They found that people with a grateful disposition were less likely to relapse and had a better emotional outlook.
- Scientific research [2] has proven that gratitude actually improves our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
- Being around people who are optimistic, supportive, and encouraging can boost your mood and inspire you to perform gratitude more often.
Writing down what you feel thankful for helps you notice and remember the good things in your life and creates a record that you can look back on when you need a boost of positivity. Research suggests that gratitude motivates us to pursue our goals and achieve more. According to Robert Emmons, the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, people who prioritize gratitude are more successful at reaching their personal goals than those who don’t. Research shows that grateful people are more empathetic and compassionate, which means being grateful may improve your communication and trust. You may also be more likely to attract good and supportive people who can help you in your recovery. While medical treatment is essential to address these issues, gratitude may also play a role in improving your physical well-being.
Thinking Positively Helps with Recovery
However, maintaining a sense of gratitude can help you stay focused on what is important and find strength in difficult times. It’s difficult to be grateful for everything if you’re constantly working and struggling. Many people jump out of recovery and into trying to get their life back on track, which may include long hours at a job, spending time with children, or even going back to school. For example, you can spend time with friends, go swimming, go for hikes, go see your favorite movies, get a massage, or anything else that makes you happy.
Start a gratitude journal
This program involves holistic healing, incorporating both traditional and innovative approaches to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of addiction. Men participating in this program are encouraged to build relationships and work together towards lasting recovery. This is achieved with the emphasis we put on community and peer support. Additionally, optimistic attitudes are linked to better immune function, which is vital for recovery from physical or mental health challenges.
It probably involved hitting several low points and tough times along the way, and those pitfalls still occur after recovery begins. Sometimes the effort why is gratitude important in recovery 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.
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Humans are newcomers on earth, wholly dependent on its freely given bounty. Gratitude begins with becoming fully aware of our dependence on these gifts. Like recovering alcoholics and other drug addicts, we need to “make a decision” to embrace the reality of our dependence on the natural world. When you are mindful, you focus on the task at hand and clear away negative thoughts that may try to creep in. Whether you’re walking your pup, vacuuming or watering your plants, try doing so mindfully.
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A grateful person isn’t ashamed to thank a friend for checking in on them. Instead of being frustrated over cravings and withdrawal symptoms, gratitude leads to a thankfulness for being able to overcome without indulgence in drugs or alcohol. Gratitude in recovery comes more naturally to some people than others. If gratitude doesn’t come easily during your recovery, there are practices you can follow to retrain your mind toward this more positive outlook. Take time to look at yourself and your life and be grateful to yourself. If you are in recovery, you have accomplished so much just by being sober or trying to get sober.
Instead of getting lost in negative emotions, use gratitude to be thankful you are in recovery and are fully present in your life. Gratitude helps reduce or even eliminate emotional and physical triggers as well. In the often-turbulent journey of addiction recovery, feelings of gratitude can play an important role in helping you feel secure and connected. On the one hand, gratitude arises from within, helping you focus on and appreciate your own experiences instead of projecting those experiences outwards onto others. By cultivating an attitude of gratitude for your inner resources and qualities, you give yourself a foundation of strength that can help you weather difficult times. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and pessimistic when living through the challenges of addiction recovery.
- They were also less likely to experience stress and other negative health symptoms.
- You’ll also notice the small improvements you make, the support you get from friends and family and the beauty of sober living.
- A grateful person knows sobriety is essential to healing the harm caused by addiction to themselves and to others.
- Helping others goes hand in hand with gratitude to promote a positive outlook.
- No matter what your religious or spiritual beliefs, taking some time each day to say thank you to your Higher Power is a great way to cultivate more things to be grateful for in your life.
In recovery, you can be grateful for the opportunity to have the freedom to pursue new hobbies, activities and goals with your newfound time. Finding stability and balance in your emotions, learning healthier coping mechanisms, and experiencing greater emotional resilience in the face of life’s challenges. https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-art-therapy-can-help-in-addiction-recovery/ Embracing physical and mental health improvements, experiencing greater energy, clarity of mind, and overall well-being as a result of sobriety. We Level Up Lake Worth FL answers all of these questions and more. If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse, we are here to support you.