After years of struggling with substance use, you may feel emotionally numb and directionless. However, this is typical to feel in early recovery. You have suppressed your emotions, limiting yourself from experiencing things to their fullest. Some even compare becoming sober to coming out of a cave. You might start your recovery journey and become worried that you might never find ways to become happy and excited. However, you can find that fresh start and get motivated about things that aren’t related to substance use – it just takes patience and persistence.
Slow and Steady
After going through treatment, you might feel like you are capable of charging back into life only to discover that there are still many things to work on before you can handle daily life. Sometimes your emotions can go flat if you take on too much too early. This is because you are overloading yourself with emotions you might not have experienced in a long time, or you are living in the “pink cloud.” Understand that to truly stay motivated and inspired takes learning how to balance and regulate your emotions, and this practice takes time and patience. Remember, recovery is a life-long journey, so move at your pace.
Re-Connect
In recovery, you may want to repair valuable friendships with people you might have hurt when you were using. Being proactive about mending these bonds by letting your loved ones know that you are no longer that person can reinvigorate friendships by re-establishing bonds. This rebirth can create a new foundation to build upon.
Set New Goals
Recovery allows you to rebuild yourself from the inside out. It includes finding activities and methods to help replace your urges and feelings attached to your substance use. While it won’t always be easy, implementing enough new activities will create a toolbox for you to sustain recovery. These new changes may include:
- Finding sober friends through support groups
- Changing diet and exercise habits
- Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule
- Establishing reasonable expectations of yourself and others
- Seeking professional help
- Setting reasonable goals
A fresh start to your new life begins the day you decide to seek treatment. Finding a new way of life can be frightening. The first step is to find a treatment center that fits your needs. At Guest House, we get to know you to assess and find treatment and therapy that is appropriate to meet your needs. Additionally, we measure our success not solely by our patients’ efforts but by how they sustain their efforts long after treatment. We are always here to help if or when mistakes and setbacks happen. Our hours of operation and treatment options remain active during the pandemic, so there is never a wrong time to reach out. To learn more, call us today at (855) 483-7800.