Creating a Gratitude List in Recovery

Be grateful as you work towards your goals of sobriety or mental and emotional structure. Be grateful for the second chance at life; for another chance at opportunities. Be grateful for the chance to see yourself grow into a better person for yourself and the ones you love. If you’re already using a journal to support your recovery, you can add a gratitude section or allot part of every entry to record things that you’re grateful for that day. You may also want to create a dedicated gratitude journal to keep you focused.

• This happens because most humans are ‘wired’ to benefit from social good, including helping others.
• Twelve-month percent days abstinent (arcsine transformed) was regressed on mean-centered 6-month gratitude and mean-centered 6-month percent days abstinent.
• Sometimes addiction can even lead to imagined negative situations, like believing friends and family who just want to help are against you.
• Our Addictions Content Team has been providing up to date information on substance use disorders, and co-occurring disorders for over a decade.
• It’s important to keep in mind that things don’t have to have any significance for you to be grateful for them.

Having a recovery plan that you can always fall back on gives your recovery some structure. If you aren’t sure what to do, stick to the plan – and update it as your recovery progresses. Recovery can seem big and impossible, so it’s important to set small doable goals along the way. That gives a sense of accomplishment, boosts self-esteem and gets things done. Break down big goals into smaller ones and mark them off your list as you complete them. Our Addictions Content Team has been providing up to date information on substance use disorders, and co-occurring disorders for over a decade.

The Power of Gratitude In Your Recovery

One of the benefits of cultivating a grateful heart in recovery is that it helps you better handle the negative things that come your way. Gratitude becomes like a sweet salve that not only heals but also contributes to your sense of joy for breaking free from substance use. When beginning your new life after recovery, changing the way you view the world can be a way to help you along that process. Part of this transformation involves incorporating gratitude into your daily routine. Being grateful for the blessings in your life, whether large or small, helps cultivate a humble, appreciative attitude.

Even if you’re struggling through an exceptionally difficult life circumstance, there is always something to be thankful for. Individuals in addiction treatment may experience a rollercoaster of emotions throughout their recovery journey. Many people who struggle with their mental health and/or substance use disorder (SUD) will experience feelings of guilt, shame, https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/what-to-do-if-the-person-you-love-is-an-addict/ resentment and regret throughout treatment. Once an addict begins working on cultivating gratitude in addiction recovery, they tend to develop a better mindset overall and have a much more positive perspective on life. There are moments when the recovery process will seem like a stroll in the park, at other times it will feel like a daunting expedition.

1. Post Hoc Analyses

Life improves with recovery, such improvement is recognized and appreciated, and gratitude is the natural consequence. Relief and thankfulness likely would attend the lifting of the substantial burden of addiction. What if we told you that there are more than a few studies that show that actively practicing gratitude creates measurable changes in the way our brains work? Even when you are not starting from a grateful place, going through the motions will still bring genuine gratitude and its rewards into your life. Activities as simple as writing thank-you notes, keeping a gratitude journal, or listing things you are grateful for, cultivate fertile ground for these feelings.

Here, some people choose to keep a gratitude journal or to note down things they’re grateful for in other ways. You can choose to do this if you need a gratitude in recovery structured way to consistently notice what you are thankful for. Practices rooted in mindfulness can offer individuals a holistic approach to care.