Addiction and mental health care techniques often include workshops or therapy sessions to teach you recovery habits to stay happy. Contact Northpoint Recovery at 208.486.0130 to learn more about healthy recovery habits and how our addiction treatment programs in Idaho can help.
7 Habits to Stay Happy in Recovery from Addiction
While addiction recovery can be full of ups and downs, there are ways to stay happy during the process.
1. Play to Your Strengths, Not Your Weaknesses
The traditional 12 Steps that form the basis of most recovery programs tell us to conduct a complete “moral inventory” of ourselves. But too many people make the mistake of dwelling solely on their weaknesses and failures. However, when you remember your strengths, you are giving yourself the tools to craft your successful recovery.
Even though you will still need support, you can become the architect of your own life. When you are moving forward by focusing on the best parts of yourself, you are permitting yourself to stay positive and happy during recovery.
2. Surround Yourself with Positive People
If you want to change your life, you must change what you do, how you think, and who you are around. Avoiding the people, places, and things you associate with substance abuse would be best. You can’t have that sort of negativity around you. Instead, spend the most time with those loved ones who support your efforts at recovery. Make new friends if you have to, during:
- 12-step fellowship meetings
- Group therapy sessions
- Support group meetings
Other people in recovery can be a great source of camaraderie and support because they know exactly what you’re going through.
3. Limit Your Exposure to Stress
To best limit your exposure to stress, you will need to make some personal and proactive adjustments, such as:
- Budget your time and energy
- Actively avoid overly dramatic or negative people
- Remember to take care of yourself before you take care of other people
You can also add stress-reduction techniques to your routine, like regular exercise, deep breathing, or maintaining a yoga practice.
4. Look for the Good All Around You—and Make It Last
Make a point of trying to notice everything positive around you, even the simple things. When you find yourself in a moment of happiness or pleasure, try to savor it and make it last as long as possible. Extend your moments of joy.
5. Be Mindful of the Moment
One of the best ways to ensure you are not wallowing in misery during recovery is to practice “mindfulness meditation.”
By regularly increasing your awareness of your state of being, you will start to notice your progress throughout your recovery. And, when you see how far you have come from where you used to be, you’ll find it much easier to stay positive.
6. Find New Ways to Have Fun
One of the biggest challenges for people in recovery is learning to find new and healthy ways to enjoy themselves in ways that don’t involve drugs or alcohol.
At first, you will probably have a hard time enjoying yourself. But when you “fake it until you make it” and force yourself to get out and about, you speed up your return to everyday enjoyment.
7. Remember Always to Be Grateful
Addiction is a destructive disease, so it has undoubtedly had consequences in your life. Sitting back and sadly thinking about everything you may have lost can be far too easy. But there’s another way to look at it: You can be grateful for what you still have.
The best part of recovery is having the opportunity to regain what you lost or never had, so you can live the life you were always supposed to have.
Learn Healthy Recovery Habits to Stay Happy at Northpoint Recovery
Northpoint Recovery uses a wellness-focused treatment strategy that is both holistic in nature and evidence-based. Contact our team at 208.486.0130 to learn more habits to stay happy in recovery from addiction.