Sometimes we need a gentle reminder that it is okay to focus on ourselves. It is not selfish to take that time and only think of ourselves. When we were facing an active addiction, we lost a lot of ourselves. We forgot what we liked to do, who we wanted to spend time with, or what we were good at. When we entered treatment, we focused intensely on our mental health and our addiction. It was hard work and often very uncomfortable. Many days were not enjoyable or fun. However, you did it and faced all of your challenges!
Now that you live a life of sobriety, you can take the time to relearn about yourself. You can enjoy that time without feeling guilty. Here are a few different suggestions to help you focus on yourself and only on yourself.
Create a Self-Care Plan
When you were in treatment, you probably had a set routine made for you. You were perhaps expected to do certain things at certain times without much flexibility. Now that you are on your own, you can take the time to create a self-care plan to maintain your success.
Self-care lets you put your time and energy into yourself. Everyone has basic needs to be met, such as nutrition and sleep. Your mental health and your physical health are intricately connected. For some of us, having a self-care plan helps make sure certain things get done. We can carve out time to exercise, cook, read, meditate, and do all of those fun activities that we have wanted to try.
Practice Self-Compassion
The chances are good that you are very used to caring for those around you. You are always there for your friends when they have bad days or when a loved one needs something. Those are exceptional qualities and part of what makes you a unique and wonderful person, but you also need to learn to have compassion for yourself. In other words, show yourself some love.
Instead of pushing yourself to go and go, schedule some breaks for yourself. Society likes to tell us that to be successful, we have to always be busy accomplishing things. That is just not the case. Remind yourself to take that break, relax, and come back to what you are working on after you have refreshed yourself and taken a moment to rest.
Self-compassion also includes less negative self-talk. We can be our own harshest critics. Fighting the urge to be negative towards ourselves takes time to learn and practice. After we learn to stop being so hard on ourselves, it will become more natural to be compassionate with ourselves.
When we faced an active addiction, we probably did not feel so great about ourselves. We probably disliked a lot of what we did and how we felt. Learning to acknowledge how far you have come and how many milestones you have passed will help you find more self-compassion.
Do What You Love
When you choose to focus on yourself, you should take the time to do all of the things you really love to do. Some of us love to be outside in nature. Go on a hike to that spot you have always wanted to explore. Take time to rewatch that movie for the thousandth time, only because it makes you happy. Lose yourself in a good book, a podcast, or just listen to music to unwind.
When life gets busy, the first thing we get rid of is our time spent on hobbies. Often, we think of our hobbies as the least important of all of the things that take up our time. What we fail to remember is that doing what we enjoy is essential to our mental health. Our mental health plays a massive role in how we feel overall and how we react to different situations throughout the day. Carving out time to do what we love to do is not only important but also necessary.
We lost a lot of ourselves when we faced an addiction. We did not do the activities we necessarily wanted to do because our lives were consumed entirely with our addiction. We focused on getting money to buy the substance we needed, when we would use it, and who we would use it with while trying to keep our addiction a secret from those we loved and cared about. Now that you have worked so hard to change, you can fully enjoy finding yourself again!
Focusing on yourself while you journey through recovery is not only smart but also necessary. Taking the time to learn about yourself is crucial. We lost so much of ourselves through addiction, and now is the time to refocus on ourselves. Creating a self-care plan can help us make sure we have a routine that is beneficial for both mind and body. Routines can be great so that we do not forget to carve out time for ourselves. Making sure we do what we love, all while practicing self-compassion, can be a lot to remember. Sometimes we need extra support to set ourselves up for success. Here at The Guest House, we understand that the road of recovery looks different for everyone. We are here to lend support in any area that you need. Call us today to learn more about how we can help you on your recovery journey at (855) 483-7800.