Positivity in recovery is critical to early and continued sobriety. There is no one key to living a life free of dependence on alcohol and/or drugs, but putting the brakes on negative thoughts and emotions and instead taking the time to meditate over/reflect on healthy, positive ideas is a good change to make to your recovery routine.
Positive affirmations are a way to feel in touch with the present moment and your inherent positivity. Affirmations are made in the first person and in the present tense, include only positive words, and are spoken as fact/truth. Reprogramming the subconscious mind and the law of attraction— the idea that you are what you attract— are part of the reasoning behind the effectiveness of affirmations.
The first person component of affirmations assigns an identity to the statement, making it personal. Avoiding words like no and not makes it easier for your brain to recognize the statement as a positive one.
The key to affirmations, and the thing that people often struggle with, is creating statements in the present tense. If it isn’t true now, why should I claim this over myself? The brain functions in such a way that believing that you are something or are a certain way is more effective in establishing thought patterns than believing you will be something or be a certain way.
For example, I am living a healthy life and love how I feel evokes a different feeling than I am going to live a healthy life and love how I feel. The former phrasing puts you in a present mindset of good health and happiness, while the latter suggests that good health and happiness will come only at some later date, implying a period of time between then and now.
You can also create affirmations that are true of the present moment. Mixing what is true with what you desire to be true might help you envision more for yourself and your life.
Affirmations are relatively easy to create; believing them is the hard part. A few to get you started:
“I am strong and capable.”
“I am an optimistic person.”
“I am worthy of…”
“I am getting through this.”
“I am managing my emotions/thoughts/cravings.”
“My relationships are healthy and stable.”
“I am healthy and successful.”
If affirmations intimidate you or you want a little something extra, there are plenty of recovery- and sobriety-oriented quotes and passages out there.
The only way anyone quits an addiction is by coming to a place where the desire to be free exceeds the desire to use.
My recovery must come first so that everything I love does not come last.
“Now I have a much clearer sense of myself and what I can and can’t do. I am more successful than I have ever been. I feel very positive where I never did before, and I think that’s all a direct result of getting sober.” — Jamie Lee Curtis
You deserve recovery. You deserve to be at peace. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be healthy. You deserve to be carefree.
“Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation— some fact of my life— unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.” — AA
There is no shame in beginning again. It’s a chance to build bigger and better than before.
If you are ready to begin a life of recovery, please reach out to us. Our admissions team is available 24/7 at (877)-RECOVERY to listen and answer any questions about our detox or residential programs.
