Nurturing a positive attitude in addiction recovery is not always the easiest thing to do for some recovering addicts. While emerging from rehab into sobriety and recovery should be a time for hope and a look to the future, it can be hard for some recovering addicts to move past their previous mistakes and stop focusing on the past and the challenges it presented. But to truly find a lasting recovery, the recovering addict must work on cultivating gratitude and fostering a positive mindset in recovery.
Transform regret into gratitude
Regret is a common emotion and human failing, and it can serve a purpose in helping us learn from our mistakes and move forward to do better in new circumstances. But indulging in regret, to the point of brooding on the past, can be harmful, as it gives us no chance to learn and grow due to an inability to focus on anything except the regret itself.
This can be a problem for a recovering addict, who will certainly have decisions they regret but needs to be focused on the future in order to move on and maintain their sobriety. Indulging in regret risks focusing too much on the past choices of substance abuse, which can in turn lead to more triggers and cravings, which can themselves in turn lead to a higher potential for relapse.
The healthier choice is to foster a positive mindset with a focus, not on regret for the past, for on gratitude for an opportunity to move beyond that past.
After all, the recovering addict has much to be grateful for. No matter what their past may hold, they have successfully made it through rehab and into recovery. They are intact and have reclaimed their health and their future and now have a chance to move on without substance abuse dogging their every mood.
Sure, there will still be problems. No matter how much gratitude a positive mindset can produce for a recovering addict, there will still be cravings and triggers to manage, still the possibility of relapse if something goes wrong.
But there are risks in any person’s life. Even the healthiest person has regrets and non-addicts can make mistakes and face challenges, too. The recovering addict gains nothing by being angry and bitter about the past and overly worried about the future. Instead, with a wary vigilance against relapse, the recovering addict must instead focus on the positives and be grateful for what they do have and what they can hope to accomplish.
How we can help you cultivate gratitude
At Good Landing Recovery, cultivating gratitude is an important part of the process, as working to foster a positive mindset is a necessary part of therapy and preparation for entering the world after rehab.
Such a mindset, and the gratitude that results from it, can help the recovering addict stay focused on what’s important, rather than what’s already happened, and find a better way to resist cravings to reach a lasting recovery.
By cultivating gratitude through fostering a positive mindset in recovery, the recovering addict can move past regret and destructive impulses to have a higher chance of success in that recovery process.
