Staying Motivated When You Want to Throw in the Towel
The process of recovery requires a one-day at a time approach. Addiction is a chronic mental illness. There is no bandaid or straightforward fix-it approach, and unfortunately, there is no surgery or treatment that can cure you of it. The idea that there is no cure for addiction can be very disheartening. The fact of the matter is that recovery takes a lot of work and effort every day.
One guarantee is that all of that daily work is undoubtedly worth it. The improvements you will experience in your overall well-being and relationships make it worth it. Moreover, there are beautiful reconnections you will get to share with your loved ones, a re-engagement with hobbies, and the emergence of a better version of yourself. If you or someone you love is in recovery but feels like throwing in the towel, we hope to remind you of what working on your recovery every day does for your life.
Ways to Stay Motivated
There are many ways for you to stay motivated to maintain your recovery. The first thing you can do is remember why you chose to enter into recovery. You may have first decided to enter into treatment because your addiction negatively impacted your employment, personal relationships, or caused a severe decline in your overall mental and physical well-being.
Detoxing removes the harmful substances in your body and allows you to reconnect your mind to your body. That process might include learning to nourish yourself through fitness, nutrition, or other holistic approaches to treatment. Reminding yourself of these reasons and how much your health improved is a significant first step to motivating yourself to remain in recovery.
Once you have reminded yourself why you worked to achieve recovery, you may consider pursuing mental health treatment and attending support group meetings as frequently as possible. Surrounding yourself with people who are struggling with similar situations is so important. For starters, hearing their stories, reasons for entering into recovery, and motivation behind maintaining it will inspire you to stay on the path and spark new ideas for you to continue motivating yourself. Especially on your lowest days, going to a last-minute meeting or grabbing coffee with someone in your support network to talk things out can be the most uplifting thing for you to do.
Learning to Be Present in Everyday Life
Another method for staying motivated to maintain your recovery when you want to throw in the towel is to learn to be present in your everyday life. In general, people tend to focus on planning for the future. You may set goals for yourself, implement timelines, and put so much pressure on your plans when you have no control over what the future brings. While planning and setting goals for yourself is important, always looking to and planning for the future can also be debilitating. Particularly when coping with a chronic illness, trying to plan your recovery for the rest of your life is nearly impossible.
Learning to focus on recovery daily allows you to simply focus on maintaining recovery today and dealing with tomorrow when it comes. You may consider finding a daily mantra for you to follow every day, or something that reminds you of your reasons for recovery. Surrounding yourself with loved ones can also help you be present in everyday life. You get to focus on what really matters in life and will not be as apt to be consumed with worry.
This Is Your Reminder to Stay Motivated
Part of our job here at the Lakehouse Recovery Center is not only to offer treatment and help you enter into recovery, but to educate you on ways to stay motivated for long-term recovery. One way we can help you with that is through our relapse prevention program. The purpose of relapse prevention is to teach clients tips and tricks to use upon leaving the Lakehouse. That might include teaching specific coping methods, support group recommendations, or further counseling.
If you are in a place where the idea of managing your recovery for the rest of your life is causing fear and anxiety, stop and take a breath—you are not in this alone. Not only do you have the Lakehouse staff to help you through the journey, but you will also create connections with fellow clients to help support you in your continued recovery journey. Reach out today to learn more and let those of us at the Lakehouse start your path to recovery.
When coping with any chronic illness, you have to take a one-day at a time approach to treatment. This concept is especially true for handling chronic mental disorders like anxiety, depression, and addiction or substance use disorder (SUD). When it comes to mental illnesses such as these, it is essential to understand and accept that there is no cure or full-proof method of treatment. That idea can be daunting and make it difficult to stay motivated in your recovery. One way to handle the pressure of recovery is by learning to live each day and avoiding planning for every moment of your future. Staying motivated for you might mean surrounding yourself with loved ones, focusing on daily mantras, or even keeping lists of reasons you chose to enter into treatment. The Lakehouse Recovery Center can help you achieve recovery and offer you the tools needed to maintain it long-term. Call (877) 762-3707 today to learn more.