You may have heard the saying before and wondered what really goes into that process. Take back your life after addiction. Recover who you are. Rebuild your future.
These are all motivational statements that could seem to be beneficial to you. Yet, in reality, they are vague and limited in their insight. When it comes to addiction recovery, though, there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Addiction cannot be cured. It will never go away fully but lingers in the background. It does not have to be a part of your daily life.
- You are responsible for deciding the complexities of your life, including whether to keep those people and responsibilities in your life now or move on. You may have to make significant changes to your life to have opportunities.
- Getting back on track is not always ideal, especially if your history is riddled with complications. Instead, focus on a plan that allows you to be better than you expected.
What You Can Do Now to Begin the Process
Whether you are ready to schedule an assessment or you are considering what life may be like, consider the following tips and strategies. These objectives can help you start on the path to recovery.
- What does being in control mean to you? A good starting point is understanding what control means to you. For example, do you feel you can walk away from a stressful situation?
- Are you more likely to implode if you remain in that space? Take a few minutes to consider what is most important to you right now to get under control. By focusing first on these areas, you can create a plan of action for handling it.
- Let go of your past. That’s another one of those motivational lines, but in this case, it has some merit. Let go of the self-blame, pain, and emotional trauma you are facing. You may need mental health support to achieve these goals, and by all means, you should get it. When you move forward with your life, instead of turning to look over your shoulder, you gain a better perspective of what the future could include. Don’t take back that pain and frustration, but do create a path forward with yourself that does not include the painful memories and negative self-talk that came from those experiences. Learn to change the bad habit of doing the same thing over and over again.
Set Your Values
Before you start working on rebuilding, invest the time into actually creating a list of values. Spend the time documenting these, outlining what makes you, you. For example, what matters the most to you each day? What do you want to prioritize throughout your life? Looking at strategies that allow you to prioritize what’s meaningful to you ensures you can stay motivated and inspired.
Accept the Current Situation
Accepting where you are right now is another component of taking back your life. No matter how you got here, no amount of dwelling on what happened or the outcome of that event is going to help you see improvement. Instead, recognize that you are here now, facing blame, guilt, and anger.
Then, move on. That anger and frustration goes away over time. You may even learn that your current situation is helping you to become the best version of yourself.
Create a Plan for Your Future
One way to stop focusing on the past and move on to the future is to have a well-outlined plan. There are realistic measures to consider here, such as making decisions within your realm of possibilities. Still, consider a few tips:
- Create a step-by-step plan to continue growing. For example, right now, you may want to give yourself just 10 minutes a day of meditation. Over time, you can increase that to 20 minutes. When making these changes, consider all facets of your life.
- Consider who is in your future. This could include close family and friends, but it may purposefully exclude those who have hurt you.
- Put the time into self-care. Focus on your health and well-being and ways to minimize stress. One reason for doing this is that it allows you to build habits that take care of you.
Know when to get help. You are never alone in the process of rebuilding your future. You may be unsure who can help or what they can do for you. At Iron Bridge Recovery Center, we take pride in offering our clients a safe place to work through anger and frustration to rebuild a better future.
Contact Iron Bridge Recovery Center Health Today
Turn to our team at Iron Bridge Recovery Center in Chester, Virginia, for an assessment. Let us help you to navigate your mental health needs in a safe, supported space.
