Saturday, April 29, 2017

Approaching Recovery with an Open Mind

Improving Mental HealthRecovery can be just as much a mental battle as a physical one. One of the most important things people must do when entering the journey of recovery is to have an open mind about what the journey will be like. They need to remain open to the idea that there isn’t only one way to become sober, and that they should be flexible and understand that their life will slowly be changing over time.

A metaphor that is often used to describe how a person should approach life through times of trouble, is to bend like a blade of grass instead of being felled like a tree. What this means is that if a person is flexible during stressful times, one is better equipped to prosper over time. This is especially true when someone is going through the recovery process, and has to learn how to accept a total change of lifestyle.

Letting Go Of Addiction

People who are addicts walk around in invisible prisons. They are prisoners of the addictions that dictate their actions, even when they know what they’re doing is wrong or they’re filled with self-loathing. However, what many people come to realize, is that while addiction is also a prison, it also becomes a place for a person to hide from the world, and the person needs to let that go.

They have to find other ways to cope with facing the world, and to do so they must be open-minded about what treatments work for them, whether its mental or spiritual treatments.

Letting Go Of Regret

Shame and regret are two key emotions that many addicts feel and are unable to let go for a period of time. Like many parts of addiction, it’s a deadly cycle. They may turn to alcohol or drugs over some trauma in the past, and they feel regret over becoming an addict, so become an even worse addict to mask the shame and regret they feel.

Addicts need to be able to accept mistakes they’ve made, but to work towards no longer living the in the past, and accepting that the future can be significantly better.

Working Towards Freedom

An addict builds a life around the lifestyle of being an addict, and one must work on freeing the soul and mind of the preconceived notions that are carried with that. A focus on people’s spiritual life is a strong way to help someone open their mind. Whether through meditation, prayer, or other forms of spirituality, it will help people connect to the deeper parts of themselves, and free their mind from the pain and sorrow associated with addiction.

They will come to realize that life doesn’t have to be that way, that they can become free. Some things a person can do to be more open-minded is to:

  • Be a seeker knowledge, listen to what others have to say
  • Not live in judgment of yourself or others
  • Be open to spiritual practices
  • Let go of always trying to be right
  • Embrace change

Fear Or Failure

One of the hardest parts of recovery is the fear of failure. This may be the reason why many people put off addiction treatment for so long, or don’t want to admit they that have a problem. By doing so, they can avoid their fear of not being to actually make a full recovery.

The journey of recovery is, understandably, daunting for many reasons, and sometimes people may have it in their minds that they will fail. This is when it’s most important for a person to be open minded about their recovery, and accepting that it may not be a perfect journey, but it’s the right one to take.



source https://www.serenitymaliburehab.com/approaching-recovery-open-mind/

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