Recovering from any normal illness is a battle in and of itself. Waking up lethargic, unmotivated, and aching doesn’t exactly inspire you to try to get better. In fact, sometimes the most enjoyable thing to do when you’re sick is to stay right there, sedentary, and leave treatment for another day. Fortunately, everyone knows that the right attitude towards recovering from illness involves taking steps to eat right, exercise, drink plenty of fluids, and take prescribed medications. While that seems like common logic, the surprising truth is that many recovering addicts don’t apply this same logic to their drug or alcohol recovery programs. As serious as drug use is, it is only fitting that the right attitude plays an even bigger role in the road to recovery. With a positive, can-do attitude, motivation comes a lot easier. Recovery is, more than anything, a retraining of the mind to accept and enjoy healthy alternatives to the illicit substances it once craved. In this way, then, exchanging a pessimistic, debbie-downer attitude for a positive, uplifting one is key to remaining optimistic as more difficult recovery steps come your way. In fact, research has shown that optimists usually complete tasks more efficiently than their pessimistic counterparts, and have more fun doing them! A good, positive attitude also encourages you to break through the goals you’ve set, and strive for new, loftier goals that may help you recover quicker. And as you continue to meet those goals, your successes will add up and encourage you to continue on. Your attitude can be your best challenger, and can push you to new heights in your recovery journey. Additionally, the right attitude can allow you to ignore old triggers more easily, and escape the negative thoughts of your past without as many painful side effects. Through years of substance abuse, you can actually condition yourself to believe that your life wasn’t half as good before your addiction started. Later, during recovery, those same thoughts can creep back into your mind. Willfully changing your attitude to allow you to understand that your worst days are behind you is key to staying on the straight and narrow. It may be difficult at first, but with continuous affirmation statements and a steady support group, you can change your psyche in no time! Finally, the right attitude reassures you that you’ve made the right decision, and that you won’t be turning back. Even the strongest of individuals have times where doubt begins to form. When friends, family, or even professionals aren’t enough to lift you out of your funk, that can-do attitude will be your best friend!
If you haven’t taken the first step in recovery yet, it’s not too late to do it. Here at Oceanfront Recovery, we don’t believe in just treating the illness. We believe in treating the person. Dial us at (877)279-1777 today!
