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How to Create a Balanced Life in Recovery

Recovery from substance abuse will often involve an individual making significant changes to improve the quality of their life and their overall happiness. The health and wellness benefits that come along with substance abuse recovery are heightened, especially when balance in your life is attained by being substance-free. 

The Journey and the Changes

As you move through your journey of substance abuse recovery, you may occasionally wonder what it’s all about, even if you’re experiencing a good life after treatment. You will most likely experience various stages in your journey, and there are multiple options that you may want to consider when making your post-treatment plans. 

Going through a recovery journey is to experience changes, apply them, practice them, and make a difference in your life in order to have a healthier, happier lifestyle. Success in your recovery journey is dependent on how well you balance your life in your substance-free atmosphere.

Early Phases

First, you’ll experience changes in what you want from life. When you decide to make changes in your life, you will not want to return to your previous lifestyle habits. Keeping yourself occupied with healthier habits and making choices aligned with your long-term goals is a way you can create a happier, substance-free atmosphere.

Next, you may go through a stage where you evaluate your choices. After completing treatment, you will consider various aspects of your life and see if they will be beneficial to you or not. During this time of contemplation, you may be more open to hearing alternative ideas and activities that you can consider adding to your life.

Still, you may also come across various triggers. Triggers could cause you to think about the path you are on and if it is right for you. When you get to this point, it’s crucial for you to remember the coping mechanisms and strategies that you learned and practiced while in treatment and use them so you don’t allow the triggers or stress to overwhelm you.

Aftercare Plans and Goals

After spending some time in contemplation, you will look into activities and choices and prepare yourself for long-term healing. This can mean you establish yourself in support groups, volunteer your time, and continue working to sustain a substance-free atmosphere.

All of this is part of finding the necessary balance to create and maintain your commitment to your recovery journey. If your stress and questions start to get the best of you and you begin to wonder why you’re even on this journey in the first place, reaching out to your peers and your support network is a great way to stay involved and motivated to continue you on your journey.

As you continue to fine-tune your plans for recovery, you will want to identify any triggers or situations that could cause you to relapse or fall back on unhealthy habits. This time of fine-tuning is a great way to build long-term healthier habits and work toward creating a balanced life for yourself.

What Do You Want Your Life to Look Like?

You may want to take some time and visualize your recovery. What do you want your life to look like? What are some long-term goals? Now that you are no longer struggling with addiction and your life is more balanced, your goals probably seem more achievable. 

For example, if you’re looking to return to school or make a change in your work life now that you are no longer struggling with substance abuse, it will be easier for you to set goals for various areas of your life to make sure that you are living a balanced life. For each goal, you could set a number of small goals leading to the main one and figure out the steps that you will need to take to get there. Don’t worry about how many steps it will take to reach your goals. Remember, every accomplishment in life starts with the first step.

As Your Recovery Journey Unfolds…

Your journey has yet to finish unfolding; as you develop healthier habits that will serve you well in the long term, you are automatically increasing your belief in yourself. It will take time, dedication, and commitment to stay on your path of recovery and achieve the goals you have set, but establishing routines and healthier habits will help you get there. As you reach out to others in your support group, you can get ideas on how they live and take advantage of their healthy habits to incorporate into your own life. Likewise, they will learn from you.

The recovery journey is a process and will require your commitment. Make sure to check on your progress toward your goals and be prepared to adjust your plan if necessary. Overall, you want to have a balanced life. You will best serve your long-term recovery goals by thinking ahead, taking care of yourself, and taking it one day at a time.

At The Guest House, we understand that your ultimate goal in recovery is to live a balanced, substance-free life. You can best achieve this goal by taking advantage of all the resources and tools you learned when you were in treatment. We are here to help you; you may need help dealing with triggers, or you may be working to achieve educational and career goals. We offer a range of services, from inpatient treatment with care provided around the clock to therapy sessions for people who have finished treatment. With our team, you don’t have to face any of life’s challenges alone. Whether you are struggling to maintain your sobriety or you need to work out a ten-year plan for your life, we are here to help you. To find out more about our programs, call us at (855) 483-7800.