Lifestyle Changes in Recovery: An Attitude of Gratitude

Building Gratitude

Building gratitude takes work. The feeling doesn’t come as easily as others like anger or fear. We who relied on drugs and alcohol to deal with stress and life often are exceptionally rusty where gratitude is concerned.

The initial effort to look around and be thankful for what is good and healthy in our lives can feel silly, even ridiculous. Over time, however, the practice of positive self-reflection comes naturally.

There are infinite ways to build gratitude and what works best for one person might not work as well for the next.

Making a gratitude list is one of the most popular ways to change thought patterns to focus on the positive. At the beginning of each day, or in the evening, make a list of 3-5 things you are grateful for. Even if nothing comes to mind, force yourself to examine what happened in the last 24 hours and find the positive aspects.

Redirecting negative thoughts is another great way to build an attitude of gratitude. Whenever you catch yourself thinking in negative, defeatist terms, stop and force yourself to focus on something else.

Hang out with positive people. Spending time around healthy people who reinforce a positive outlook is bound to rub off. Negative thinking is habit forming. Even if you break a cycle within yourself, if you are surrounded by people who are negative you are likely to adopt their perspective.

Appreciate the small things. Even stuff we take for granted, like clean water, can be easy to overlook after a while.

Meditation is great way to slow down and take inventory of our day. Guided meditation or quiet meditation forces you to direct your thoughts in a specific direction without interruption from the stream of thoughts that runs throughout the day.

This is more difficult than it sounds. The fact that it may be challenging is only indicative of its effectiveness.

Give Yourself a Break

Gratitude is an amazingly beneficial mindset once you obtain it; however, all this advice is easier said than done.

Cognitive traps like negative thinking take time to undo and replace with positivity. You may find that you agree to try such things as meditation and list-making however fail to see results. These things take time and how much time depends on the individual. Some people slowly see progress over weeks, while for others it’s years.

Do not give up on the practice because you are not perfect at it. Remind yourself that you just need more time.
Things will reveal themselves over time and the miracle of gratitude will lift you out of despair and into the realm of the sunlight of the spirit.