Having strong and supportive friendships in life is an essential component of overall well-being. Everyone needs to feel as if they are a member of a group. Everyone needs to feel as if they have supportive people with whom they feel safe enough to open up to and talk.
As you enter into recovery, building and maintaining friendships probably feels a little different. Many different issues may concern you. It is important to make friends that will help you along your journey, not stray you from the path that you set for yourself. If you are working to build and maintain healthy friendships, here are a few points to keep in mind.
Supports Your Boundaries
Healthy friendships will support the boundaries that you have in place. Boundaries are an essential part of the recovery process. Boundaries are in place to keep you safe and help to ensure that you do not end up in a place or situation that you are not ready for. Boundaries can be established in any area of your life in which you feel you need to protect yourself. Typically boundaries can change with time as you grow and develop in your recovery.
If you are in a healthy friendship, your friend will want you to succeed in your recovery. A true friend will want you to stay healthy and to keep moving towards your goals. If you have friendships from before treatment, those friendships typically centered around your substance of choice or participating in risky behavior. You will need to analyze those friendships and ensure those individuals are capable of and ready to support the boundaries you have put in place.
Does Not Judge Your Past
Friendships that are supportive and healthy will not judge you for your past. For those in recovery, feeling judged for their past is a typical worry. You may be concerned that someone will judge your past choices and behavior and assume you are still that way now. You might be worried that someone will not be able to see your growth or even try to get to know you based on your past.
Finding true friendships can be wonderful. Connect with people who know your past and still love you anyway. Having people who see how you are doing and see the potential for your future is great. Healthy friendships in recovery are so meaningful.
You will have days where you don’t feel so great about yourself, your self-esteem will be low, and you will doubt your abilities. You may even think that you are not capable of escaping your past. Build friendships with people who will step in during those moments and remind you what you are working towards and how capable you are.
Holds You Accountable
It is crucial to be able to hold yourself accountable for your behavior and actions. It is also essential to have a support system that also keeps you accountable. Life gets busy. It can be easy to get caught up in busy day-to-day schedules. Goals can get pushed to the side, and healthy coping can be forgotten.
Have a support system in place that is filled with people confident enough to remind you of your priorities when you begin to act this way. They should know your goals and what you are trying to achieve. If the friendship is healthy, it will be solid enough for you and your friend to call each other out when one of you is beginning to stray from their goals.
Has Similar Interests
Having similar interests can help to ensure that friendships are healthy. While it is important to have differences and your own goals and interests, it is also essential that core interests be similar. Your sobriety and health are probably a significant part of your life. Your activities and choices center around your sobriety. Having friendships with similar mindsets is key to the connection and longevity of those relationships.
Makes You Want to Be a Better Person
Surrounding yourself with people who make you want to be a better person can be very inspiring. Those people will motivate you to set higher goals and instill confidence in you to reach those lofty goals.
Finding friendships that bring you up and create positivity in your life can be amazing. Recovery will lead you in directions you never thought you would go. Use those new experiences and activities to connect with new people. It is okay that some of your old relationships don’t make it into your new life. Putting your sobriety, recovery, and well-being first is the key to your happiness. You deserve to be happy and healthy.
Friendships are an essential component of recovery. You need a support system as you journey through sobriety and grow in your recovery. Making healthy friendships that bring positivity is necessary. Focus on your goals and where you want your life to go, then find friendships with individuals who have similar goals and aspirations. Healthy friendships make you want to be a better person and will hold you accountable. Determining which friendships are healthy versus unhealthy can be a learning process. Here at The Guest House, we understand the challenges that come along with recovery and finding the courage to make new friendships and relationships. We are here to help and support you along that journey. You do not need to face these changes alone. We are trained to help you understand your challenges and meet your goals. Call us today at (855) 483-7800 to learn more about our different support options.