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The main difference between those who do well in recovery and those who struggle is to do with belief. It is not a case of some people being somehow better at being sober; it is just that these individuals believe in the right things. Below are six of the beliefs that winners in recovery tend to live their life by:
1. Today is a Fresh Start
If you are constantly dealing with the baggage from the past, it will be harder to make progress today. It matters not how bad things were yesterday or what mistakes you made; you get a chance to do better by trying again today. This ability to see every day is a fresh start is will strengthen your recovery greatly, also helping you stay motivated. The problem with being too weighed down by the past is that it just becomes a huge drain on your energy.
2. I Deserve a Better life
You tend to get exactly what you settle for in life. One of the main reasons individuals are unable to break free of addiction is that they assume this is the best they can hope for in life. There are also plenty of examples of people getting sober but then only to settle for the bare minimum from their sobriety. You need to believe that you deserve more in life, as this will give you the motivation to get out of your comfort zone and start doing things to improve your situation. Do not allow low self-esteem or guilt about the past fool you into thinking you deserve anything less than happiness and fulfilment.
3. I Am Allowed to Fail
Many people are too afraid to try anything challenging in life because they do not want to fail. There are also those who do accept challenges but deliberately self-handicap because they do not want to try their best yet fail to succeed. Here is the truth – you do not become a failure because you sometimes fail, you become a failure because you stop trying. You can expect to fail at least a few times on the way to any goal; it is just part of the process. If you cannot accept this, it is unlikely you are ever going to accomplish much that is significant.
4. Good Things Happen When I Sow the Right Seeds
By doing positive things today, it means that you get to reap the rewards later on. Some people refer to this as sowing karma, which is a good way of thinking about it. There is nothing magical about why this works; it is just a law of the universe that good actions tend to lead to good results. The more positive karma seeds you can plant today, the better it is going to be for you in the future. Some karma seeds never grow, some take a long time to produce fruit, but the rewards can be amazing.
5. I am Grateful for All the Good in My Life Right Now
Your level of happiness is not determined by what you get out of life but by how good you are at appreciating what you already have. Gratitude is necessary in recovery and, if you do not have this, you may spend the rest of your life just chasing your tail. Gratitude is a skill you can develop and it is one of the most important skills you are ever going to learn. One way to start developing it right now is to keep a daily gratitude list in which you do an inventory of all the good things already in your life.
6. The Tide Always Turns
There will almost certainly be times in recovery when things just do not go your way. You may have hit a stage whereby everything seems to be falling apart, and you start dealing with depression. This period of struggle can last days, weeks, or even months, but you need to stay strong in order to get through sober and sane. The way you do this is by remembering that this is only a temporary situation and as long as you keep on trying to do the right things, your life will get back on track.
