Gratitude is often something that we perceive as being solely for the benefit of others. Showing gratitude enriches the lives of those who receive it. They feel valued by grateful words and actions. They also understand that we appreciate all that they do.
However, feelings of gratitude can be just as beneficial for those who display them. In fact, when you’re in addiction recovery, expressing gratitude can play a key role in helping you keep a positive outlook and your life on track. Research has shown that practicing gratitude is tied to greater overall happiness.
Being grateful for what you have rather than worrying about what you don’t creates a positive, healthy mindset. Consciously reflecting on what you’re grateful for each day can keep feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and even low self-worth at bay.
Moreover, gratitude can make you more positive and more proactive in every area of your life. When you’re mind is focused on the things that are going well and on what you already have, you’re more likely to enjoy consistent feelings of contentment, and less likely to indulge in unhealthy coping habits.
What Is Gratitude?
Gratitude is commonly defined as the quality of being thankful. However, in recovery, gratitude is also seen as a mindset. When you’re actively feeling grateful, you aren’t letting your mind wander to negative emotions, relationships, or concerns that cause stress. When you’re in a grateful mindset, it’s easier to solve problems than to indulge them.
In rehab, you’ll encounter numerous professionals and recovered addicts who stress the importance of maintaining a grateful mindset. With an attitude of gratitude, you can see:
- Challenges as opportunities
- Difficult people as a chance to practice patience and grow
- Setbacks as invaluable learning experiences
and more. When cultivating gratitude, even hardships and mistakes can be viewed as beneficial.
Why Is Gratitude Important in Recovery?
Gratitude is uplifting, stress-relieving, and filled with potential. Practicing gratitude won’t just keep you positive. It will also help you avoid the dreaded and all-too-common mistake of overlooking the best things in life until you’ve lost them.
When addicts hit rock bottom, they often look longingly back on the relationships, jobs, housing opportunities, resources, and connections that they once had. Although these things might seem insufficient or undesirable when a person first starts abusing substances, they’re often dearly missed once they’re gone.
One of the major lessons learned in addiction recovery is that appreciating what you have will help you avoid trading your most important assets for the feelings of instant gratification that substance use provides. Feelings of gratitude can also keep you from experiencing many common and frequently overwhelming emotions throughout recovery such as:
- Guilt
- Grief
- Self-pity
- Loneliness
- Longing
- Boredom
- Malaise
When unchallenged by conscious efforts to redirect your thinking, these and other emotions like them can be catalysts for relapsing.
5 Ways to Practice Gratitude in Recovery
When you find yourself moving toward negative thoughts, take a minute to write down an important lesson that you’ve learned. Then, consider how the negative events and consequences surrounding this lesson have improved your character and your life. If there was ever a time when addiction made you feel ashamed, alone, or otherwise down, try looking at those moments as leading you closer to the choices that ultimately freed you from addiction. This is gratitude.
Although you probably didn’t enjoy the hardship that caused you to enter rehab, this same negative experience may have saved your life. With time, you’ll find that it becomes increasingly easier to see the good in even the worst of your experiences.
To practice gratitude in recovery, you can also:
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Making a daily gratitude list
- Volunteer your time and talent to help others
- Practice mindfulness meditation
- Remember your past struggles
- Place your focus on what you have right now
Being grateful is a choice. It’s also a daily effort that doesn’t take a lot of time or energy, and that’s guaranteed to provide noticeable rewards.
Keeping a Gratitude Journal
Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the easiest ways to establish and maintain an attitude of gratitude all of the time. This can be a journal that you write in at the very start of your day or one that you work on just before going to sleep. Write down a list of the people and experiences that have enriched your life in some way. If you take the time to really think about the good things in your life, you’ll always have something to write.
On days that are especially challenging, be glad that you have the opportunity to sleep and the ability to put the day behind you. Focus on the comfort and security that your bed or your general living environment provides. Be grateful for the physical abilities you have, the food you’ve eaten, your income, or even just the promise of a new day.
Writing a gratitude journal and consciously establishing a positive mindset will make you better able to cope with stress, better able to control your reactions to challenging circumstances, and more adept in problem-solving. Some studies show that purposeful gratitude can even have a positive impact on a person’s sleep quality.
Make Time to Help People
Volunteering in recovery is a common practice. Not only does it provide a strong sense of accomplishment, but it can also:
- Boost your sense of self-worth
- Remind you that life can always be harder
- Give you an opportunity to “pay it forward”
- Allow you to share what you’ve learned
You might volunteer at a local food bank or soup kitchen, or at a nearby homeless shelter. You can also help other people in recovery. These experiences are also a great way to meet kind-hearted, like-minded people who share many of your same goals, challenges, and beliefs. Helping others can help shift your perspective into positive thinking.
Meditate
Mindfulness meditation makes it easy to be grateful for the little things. This can be as simple as taking several minutes to close your eyes and focus on nothing more than your breathing. Regular meditation can make you calmer, more focused, and better aware of everything around you. With deep breathing and efforts to clear your mind of stressful thoughts, meditation can make you grateful for the individual moments and experiences that you’ve lived through, and your current surroundings.
Remember the Tough Times
Life might seem difficult in recovery, but it’s likely far less stressful and far less challenging than it was when you were still in the throes of addiction. Recovering addicts don’t have to lie about how they’ve spent their time or money, manipulate their loved ones, deal with legal issues, or constantly worry about job or housing loss. When you start feeling as though your life lacks excitement or anything else, think back to the lowest point of your addiction and be grateful that you’re no longer there.
Focus on What You Have, Not What You Want
The proverbial grass is always greener on the other side. This old adage can be true for everyone and at any stage of life. What you don’t have can easily seem more appealing than the things and people you do. However, you’ll never be able to appreciate anything in your life until you stop worrying about or wishing for what lies ahead, and learn to live fully in the moment.
Gratitude Is Good for Your Mind, Body, Spirit
Gratitude changes everything. It turns challenges into valuable life lessons and problems into opportunities. It also ensures that the loving, helpful people around you aren’t being overlooked. Although some people seem to be naturally gracious and optimistic, being grateful is a choice that you can make on an ongoing basis.
Taking daily steps to acknowledge the good things in your life will benefit your mind, your body, and your spirit. If you’re ready to get on the path to addiction recovery and want to learn more about how gratitude can make your journey easier, call us today. Our counselors are always standing by.
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