What Is Sobriety?
Sobriety is simply a state of being sober. Sobriety isn’t an end point to recovery; it’s an ongoing state of being. Sobriety is more than just quitting your addiction; it means living a balanced life with a good state of mental health. When you’re truly sober, you’ll be mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy.
Why Is Sobriety So Hard to Achieve?
Sobriety is hard to achieve because there are so many aspects to it. You need to work on your mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.
Mental Health
With mental health, balance is key. If you have a dual diagnosis, you’ll want to have your mental health condition balanced. For instance, if you struggle with depression, you may take medications or go to therapy to keep your depression balanced and your mental health stable.
Physical Health
Physically, your body needs to be well-rested and worked out to function correctly. You may want to start going to the gym, going to yoga classes, or receiving massages to reduce tension. Whatever you do, you want to make sure your body feels comfortable and healthy.
Spiritual Health
Spiritual health is important regardless of whether or not you’re religious. Spiritual health simply means feeling at one with yourself and the universe. You need to be accepting of who you are and where you are in life.
What Is Acceptance?
Acceptance is the act of understanding and realizing the reality of your situation. Realizing that your addiction got out of control, that you need to work on your sobriety, or that you want to stay sober are all ways to accept what’s happening in your life presently.
Self-acceptance is key in your life. You need to recognize your worth regardless of your weaknesses or self-defined deficiencies. When you are able to be accepting of yourself, you’ll love yourself unconditionally. This is vital to your recovery, since you:
- Recognize that some things cannot be changed now, and accepting that fact allows you to move on.
- Realize that unfair situations are not an excuse for substance abuse, which harms your body.
- Realizing that denying your situation is what got you into the position you’re in today.
- Need to be emotionally sober, not just physically sober, to move forward with your life.
What Is Willingness?
Willingness is important in recovery because it defines how eager you are to recover. Willingness is, essentially, how eager and compliant you are with a program. When you are willing to do something, you’re more open and receptive to the changes you need to make in your life. Being willing means you’re embracing the changes you want to make, not fighting them.
Why Do You Need to Be Both Accepting and Willing to Change?
When you’re accepting of yourself and willing to change, you can alter your entire world. Here’s how this can work in your life.
- First, you begin to understand why you’re in your current situation. What you did led to it, and if you can accept that, then you accept the role you played in your addiction.
- Next, look at yourself. You’ve made mistakes, but you need to accept yourself as you are and make the changes you want to see in yourself. No person is perfect, and accepting yourself, flaws included, is key to loving who you are and who you will become.
- When you can accept and love yourself, you can stop fighting against others who want to help. By becoming a willing patient, you start listening to therapists and doctors; you follow medical treatment plans and are compliant with those who want what’s best for you.
- Willingness means you begin to be self-motivated to succeed. You’ll be more willing to engage in activities to help yourself, instead of turning back to an old way of life that was hurtful to your recovery.
Getting patients to a state of being willing and accepting is the goal of all recovery programs. This is an emotional state that leads to compliance in recovery as well as personal self-love and acceptance that is needed to live a sober life in the future.
How Can I Get Help With My Sobriety?
If you’re ready to move forward and want to learn about ways to become more accepting and willing in your recovery, our helpful specialists can assist you. Call us today by dialing 1-844-489-0836 to speak with someone who can help you learn about self-help, therapy, and recovery programs near you. If you prefer to visit us online and want to learn more about the programs offered in your local area, the treatment plans that can benefit you, or more about the recovery programs that are alternative or holistic in nature, you can visit online by typing in www.firststepsrecovery.com.
