4 Things I Do Each Day for My Recovery

Leaving a life of alcoholism behind wasn't an easy task. It requires daily action to maintain my sobriety. In the past, my life was full of negative behaviors and coping mechanisms that had to be cast aside and replaced with healthier habits. Here are 4 things I do each day to benefit my recovery. 

1. Practice Mindfulness

Addiction causes one’s mental health to decline rapidly. This was certainly true for me. After all, when the only important thing in my life was a bottle and drunkenness, nothing else really mattered. In the past, I didn’t have any issues with my mental health. However, years of alcoholism brought out the depression and anxiety within me. Now that drinking was out of the question, I had to find a healthy way to treat my mental health. 

Throughout my time in treatment, mindful meditation was a term I often heard bouncing around. However, I thought of meditation as something only Buddhist monks do. Fortunately, I eventually opened my mind enough to give it a shot. I learned how to focus on my breathing and distant my thoughts from the worries and anxieties that consumed me. I learned how to live in the present moment and simply exist. More importantly, mindfulness taught me how to stop being so judgmental of my own thoughts. After all, thoughts are just thoughts - they don’t have to be right or wrong - they can just be. 

2. Exercise

Before I got sober, I neglected my physical health just as much as my mental health. That was a habit that certainly wasn’t undone just by putting the alcohol to the side. Instead, I substituted alcohol cravings for sugar cravings. The weight began to pile on, my self-confidence became non-existent, and I was sedentary most of the day. I didn’t get sober to be unhealthy - I got sober to love the person I am. 

I purchased a gym membership and started going to the gym. The first time I went, I was dreading getting in front of people and trying to work out being completely out of shape. However, as soon as I jumped on the elliptical, an overwhelming sense of achievement came over me. After the workout, I felt less stressed and far more relaxed than I had in months. Ever since that day, working out became an essential part of my daily routine.

Exercise is proven to help boost mental health by reducing stress, alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety, increasing relaxation, and even treating symptoms of addiction. In addition, it can help improve self-confidence and physical health that may have been damaged due to substance abuse. 

3. Connect With Others

Alcoholism is an isolating disease. Not only did my family and friends no longer want to deal with me, but I wanted to be left alone so I could drink as I pleased. In addition, sobriety can be isolating if you don’t have a support group of people who have been through the same things you have been through. However, recovery is a lot easier when you take the time to connect with like-minded people. 

I was fortunate enough to find myself immersed in a 12-step fellowship early on in my sobriety. I was emotionally embraced by a group of women who had several years in sobriety and I began to develop relationships with them. Not only were these women understanding of my past and supportive of my goals, but they also showed me the value of true friendship. 

Without a support group, it can be easy to isolate or fall into old behaviors. Instead, having a support group in recovery can provide you with emotional support, allow you to give back to the community, and live a healthier lifestyle. 

4. Remain Grateful

When things in life don’t go the way I want them to go, it can be easy to get caught up in negative thinking. However, throughout my addiction, the negatives were all I ever focused on. Early on in my sobriety, I frequently heard people talking about the importance of gratitude. I even heard people go as far as to say, “a grateful heart never drinks.” I wanted to stay sober, so I started practicing gratitude in my life. 

When I look at the life I have today, it’s easy to find hundreds of things to be grateful for. The most obvious thing to be grateful for is my sobriety - the fact that I am not bound to the obsession of drinking anymore is a miracle itself. Then, there is my job, my family, my friends, and the peace of mind I have attained. In addition, when I look deeper, there is so much to be grateful for. For example, I can be grateful for the laughs I share with my friends, the person who smiled at me in the hallway today, and even a phone call from an old friend. Each night, I spend some time making a list of the things I am grateful for each day. The next morning, I look over this list and it helps me start my day off on the right track. 

Looking at life with a grateful heart benefits recovery because it improves psychological health, boosts empathy, increases self-esteem, and generates mental strength to endure hardships. Gratitude isn’t only for people in recovery either - it can benefit anyone who tries it!