Finding Your Purpose

Human beings need purpose. Without purpose, we find ourselves trapped in a world of just getting by. If we don’t know what inspires us, we can never truly find happiness or fulfillment. When we do not have purpose, it can be difficult to accomplish anything that helps us feel good about ourselves. Having a purpose is an important key to addiction recovery; having goals for life is a motivator for sobriety.

When someone is an addict, it can be difficult to know their purpose. If they had a purpose, they lost sight of it. If they were looking for a purpose, it was given up as a lost cause. In recovery, it is important to overcome this mentality. In the path to recovery, rediscovering your purpose is essential.

But how can one go about finding their purpose? It might take some soul searching, but there are five questions that you can ask yourself to get you started on the right path:

1.      What did I love to do as a kid? Anyone who has been around kids knows that every child knows what they like and what they don’t like. If we can remember what we enjoyed doing as a kid, we’ll find clues about what might make us happy as adults.

2.      What is my deepest pain in life? It is possible to find purpose in pain. Someone who lost a loved one to an illness might go on to become a doctor or nurse. Something that deeply impacted you negatively at one time can go on to become a driving force in your life for good.

3.      What is my secret fantasy? If you consistently daydream about something, no matter how unrealistic it may seem, then you have an interest and you can find a way to work with it.

4.      If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? It might seem like a superficial question, but this can be an important part of figuring out what is truly important to you.

5.      What makes me tick? Think about the times in your life when you were excited. Think about the times when you felt fulfilled. Then think about how you walk through life in a moment-by-moment basis. When does your life give you energy? When you’re excited, fulfilled, and energetic, you’re ticking. And whatever makes you tick is probably related to your purpose.

If you can answer these questions thoughtfully, you can identify your purpose and you’ll have a clear direction in life. With this purpose in mind, you’ll have a reason to continue on the path to recovery. Finding your purpose is key to the rest of your life.

Addiction Quicksand

You’ve seen it in movies and read about it in books- the dangers of quicksand and how it can kill unsuspecting travelers. In reality, quicksand doesn’t work the way it does in the media- it’s not a death by sinking to the bottom and drowning. What kills people who get stuck in quicksand isn’t that they drown, it’s that they can’t get out without help. Quicksand traps the person and there is not usually anything close enough for a person to use to get themselves out. The person trapped may try to free themselves on their own, but researchers have shown that the person trapped would need the same strength to pull themselves out as they would need to lift a medium-sized automobile. The only way to get free from the quicksand is with help.

Similarly, someone drowning in addiction may believe that they can get out of the quicksand by themselves. However, the physics of quicksand teaches us differently. The person trapped in the quicksand of addiction needs someone else to pull them out. Someone on a higher, more sure footing, is going to have to help them get out. Sometimes, it may take more than one person to pull them out.

There are some steps to getting out of the quicksand. First, the person trapped in the quicksand has to acknowledge that they are truly stuck and cannot get out on their own. Secondly, they are going to have to ask for help. It is important to ask for help from someone on stable ground. This is a person who can be your accountability partner. This person won’t just pull you out of the quicksand, but will help you from falling back in. Third, the person stuck in the quicksand is going to have to reach out and hold onto whatever sticks or ropes they are being handed to get out. Whatever tools they are being given to aid in recovery are important, and it is necessary to grab onto them and hold fast.

Once a person is out of the quicksand, one of the keys to ongoing survival is to avoid falling back into the quicksand in the future. Rarely, if ever, will a person die in addiction quicksand if they have someone willing to help them out of the hole.

The Power of Gratitude in Recovery

For many, one of the most powerful tools in recovery is gratitude. At the beginning of recovery, gratitude can be a lot of work. However, with time and practice, it can become an easy and effective part of the day and of recovery.

If you are new to recovery and to gratitude, have patience with yourself. When the process of recovery is started, your life might be a mess. And when that’s the case, it can be hard to find much to be grateful for. But stick with it. One place to start is with a gratitude list. Every day, list a few things that you are grateful for that day. They can be simple things, such as having food to eat or a roof over your head. As you make a habit of it, you will be begin to see more things in your life that you can be grateful for. When you have things in life that you are grateful for, your general outlook on life is improved and helps ease the recovery process.

If you are struggling to believe this assertion, there is research to back it up. Thousands of in-depth interviews were conducted examining the causes and underlying factors of happiness. Through these interviews, one meaningful difference between happy and unhappy people was identified. The difference? Happy people are grateful for what they have, and unhappy people are not.

People who are grateful for what they have tend to focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. In turn, this makes them more hopeful, less stressed, less likely to get stuck in shame and depression, and more likely to recover from serious life issues, such as addiction. Gratitude is a powerful medicine- even for a disease as cunning, baffling, and powerful as addiction.

Addiction Recovery Toolkit

With addiction recovery, there can be many roadblocks and setbacks. When it comes to recovery, it is important to recognize your triggers and how to avoid relapse. Having a sobriety “toolkit” can be helpful because it allows you to know what you can do to stay safe, sane, and sober. Below are a few ideas of useful tools to help you get started.

Connecting with nature, especially with friends and loved ones, is a great way to remind yourself that you are not alone in life and that you are loved. It can be helpful to be in nature and see the beauty in the world, and it can be a reminder that recovery is worth it.

Exercise is good for both physical and mental health, and therefore is good for recovery. The level of exercise isn’t important—just getting up and moving around is helpful.

Self-care is an essential tool in recovery. The positive impact of basic self-care is indisputable; eating right, getting enough sleep, healthy personal hygiene, and avoiding stressful situations are ways to take care of our bodies and minds. When we have healthy bodies and minds, it makes roadblocks to recovery seem less insurmountable.

Using the phone is a good tool to have because it can connect you to others. When a person is struggling, reaching out with a call or text to a trusted loved one who can help you through the problem is huge. Phones can also be used to connect to friends and loved ones on a daily basis, which can help to strengthen relationships that will help you down the path to recovery.

There are many tools that can help you in the recovery process, and it is important to find out what works for you. When you have tools to help you through recovery, it can make any setbacks you encounter seem more possible to overcome.