Each day when the clock strikes twelve there is a unique opportunity at hand when recovery and living a sober lifestyle is part of life: stay sober. Pick up the tools, put the practices into play, and stay spiritually connected. Maintain balance of mind, body, and spirit. Work towards recovery. Sometimes, staying sober and living a lifestyle of recovery can feel overwhelming and impossible to achieve. An entire lifetime cannot be lived in a day, however, an entire day can be lived sober in a twenty four hour period.
Lifehacker suggests focusing on the system which has been created to achieve a goal rather than the goal itself. Putting all-consuming time, focus, and energy on sobriety is more like acting in a fear- fear of relapsing. Instead, focusing on the system, which is all of the coping tools, life skills, and relapse prevention techniques, keeps recovery an active and progressive objective. “Goals are easy to set but hard to reach,” the website explains, “and maintaining your motivation is everything (which is why focusing on a system is so much better than focusing on the goal itself). Maintaining motivation, the article emphasizes, is key.
Motivation for recovery is what keeps recovery going. Gratitude, it is often said, is the attitude of recovery. Without being inspired to stay sober, there is little reason to. An effective tool for keeping focus, is to focus on the positive. Citing research on what motivates people to continue seeking their goals, the website describes that focusing on all the positive things which will come out of a goal, like staying sober every day, can maintain motivation. All of the tools and skills which apply to sober living are like a living list of what to do to obtain a daily goal of sobriety. Moments of small milestones deserve small rewards, which is why tokens and chips are given in 12 step programs, for example. “You are likely to find such things motivating. When you reach the later stages of goal pursuit, focus on the duties you have in your life and how goal attainment will help you feel that you are taking care of these responsibilities.”
Living sober is possible. Through restorative treatment, you can learn to live in a healthy and balanced way. That is why the unique treatment programs at Cypress Lakes Lodge offer an integrative approach, bringing together holistic and therapeutic treatments. For more information, call 1-877-938-1577.