If you have gone through addiction, you may have experienced losing the only identity you ever had while you were using drugs. Now that you are sober, it can be difficult navigating who you are now in recovery. However, grasping this opportunity to reinvent yourself and become more in touch with your needs, goals, and desires will lead you on the right path to healing.
If you need tips on rediscovering yourself in recovery, the following should help you. Remember, addiction doesn’t always have to define your life. You are free to become the person you always dreamed you would be.
When you first go to treatment, you most likely go for a specific reason or motivation, such as health problems, family, worsening addiction, or even fear of addiction. However, this motivation will often disappear as treatment goes on and you begin going through the challenging parts of recovery.
When recovery gets tough, you will have to find motivation within yourself to continue choosing the healthy path of sobriety. You can do this by imagining your future if you stay sober and then imagining a future where you continue using drugs. Seeing the things you can achieve by getting sober can be enough to keep you on the right track, but there are other ways to find it too.
Addiction feeds off of negative emotions and self-deprecation. However, learning how to regulate and control your emotions properly will better equip you to listen to your mind and body as you continue navigating recovery. Learning how to sit with heavy feelings will help you learn how to manage triggers and live the life you have always wanted without fear. You can practice various techniques such as meditation, breathwork, or journaling to help you learn regulation. From here, you can begin searching for the intricacies of your being as you continue healing.
You can’t expect to rediscover yourself if you don’t take the time to know who you are. Many people wrongly assume that they know themselves well because they know what’s on the surface. However, delving into an intimate personal relationship will give you a better idea of who you are at your core, what your actual goals are, and what you want to do with your life.
It is essential to understand that developing this relationship will not be easy. You will have to learn how to sit with yourself in the good, bad, and ugly moments and learn to accept them all. Learning how to forgive and show compassion for yourself can help you take great strides in getting to know yourself.
Growing as a person will never happen if you continue playing it safe. As you learn how to regulate your emotions and trust yourself more, you can begin venturing out of your comfort zone to find the things you are passionate about. If you have always wanted to try painting but never did because of addiction, take the step of signing up for a class. If you enjoy being around animals, consider volunteering at a local animal shelter to fill your time with something you enjoy.
It can be easy to never try new things out of fear of failing, but you will never grow if you stay in the same place. Get out of your comfort zone and discover your passions.
While rediscovering yourself may seem like a personal experience, reaching out to those closest to you can actually help the process along. This is especially true if you have been distant from your friends and family due to addiction. Revisiting these relationships can help you rediscover who you were before addiction to give you a better idea of where to go in recovery. While you won’t be the same person, nor should you be, talking with those that know you best can give you some guidance regarding where to go from here.
Most importantly, you cannot continue living in a cloud of guilt and shame because of your past actions. No one chooses to struggle with addiction, and you are no less deserving of a good life because of your past. Letting go of guilt will allow you to live freely in recovery, giving you a better chance at long-term sobriety. Let go of the guilt and step into the life you were always meant to have.
Rediscovering who you are in addiction recovery can be challenging after losing the identity built by addiction. However, you must realize that addiction never defined you, and it certainly won’t define you now that you are sober. Taking the necessary steps to develop a loving relationship with yourself and then taking that love to find your passions and new identity will help you stay on the path to healing. If you are struggling with this process, NorthStar Transitions has your back. We work with individuals at all stages of recovery, find healing and rediscover themselves in sobriety to live the life they have always dreamed of. Through a combination of traditional and holistic treatments at an affordable price, NorthStar is one of the most exceptional facilities in the country. Find truly individualized care today and start your journey to self-discovery by calling (303) 558-6400. Recovery begins at NorthStar; take the first steps today.
