Gratitude in Recovery Posted On
During the Thanksgiving holiday, we all heard about how important it is to be thankful for what we have. But did you know that gratitude can actually help along the road to recovery. To be grateful doesn’t mean comparing your life against others, but, instead, shifting the focus on appreciating the things we have in our life. Gratitude can help those struggling with addiction, or problem gambling, by helping to shift the focus from what we don’t have onto what we love. Gratitude is an attitude.
Here are some ways you can start practicing more gratitude in your life today:
Find gratitude for today.
Find reasons to have gratitude to be alive, for the loved ones in your life, for the positive changes you’re making, and for the person you see yourself growing into in your recovery. Take time each day to identify at least three things your gracious for. These things could include the support of a spouse, the friends who support your life changes in recovery, or a simpler thing, such as appreciating a passing butterfly.
Write it down.
Journal the things that bring feelings of gratitude. There will be days that you feel as though you are not gracious about anything. A lack of gratitude may lead back to addiction, so review the things you’ve written about in your journal to help you appreciate today.
Give back.
The easiest way to show gratitude is by helping others. When we help others, we are not looking for a “thank you,” but, rather, we are looking to improve the lives of others because we care about other people. When we help others, it helps us feel better about ourselves, and, so, we can be grateful that we are able to help other people.
This change of attitude to gratitude will, hopefully, guide each day, no matter what the day brings, into a good day. If we have a good day, we’ll look forward to the next day to come.
