SIX IDEAS FOR CHANGE

Understand that entering a sober living like the Right Path House environment signifies a huge commitment to your recovery life-style, and well-being. So, choose not to be spoon fed your recovery. Choose to embrace this opportunity, it may be the one and only time you'll have to dedicate to creating your personal version of positive change, one minute, one hour, and one day at a time. Addiction is a lonely life-style that loops and leaves you alone. It is impossible to learn new things in a vacuum. 

Practice Self-Care: Take timeouts. Engage in activities that nourish your mind, body, and soul, such as walking, biking, setting healthy boundaries, exercise, meditation, journaling, or spending time in with our giant oak trees in the back yard. Prioritizing recovery and making self-care part of that, will help you stay balanced and resilient as you navigate the challenges of recovery.

Approach the experience with an open mind and a willingness to learn. You may be new or coming back after a relapse, and your research on your disease has taken it's toll on your spirit. You might be tempted to get stuck in your relapse guilt and shame. However, the reality is that recovery is a journey of ever evolving self-discovery, and being receptive to new ideas, perspectives, and approaches can greatly enhance what happened. After all, the old approach did not exactly work out. 

Be Honest and Authentic: Honesty is essential in recovery. Start from the beginning of your recovery with being honest with yourself and others about your thoughts, feelings, and experiences, even if they are negative. Do it from the start. Embrace vulnerability and authenticity as strengths, because in recovery, that's what they are considered. 

Understand that recovery is a process that takes time and effort. Set realistic expectations for yourself and recognize that there may be both emotional and physical ups and downs along the way. After being more focused on what was going wrong in your life during the addiction years, focus on what's going right in life. Celebrate those successes, no matter how small and no matter what they are. For many, it is a new mindset that builds and molds the inner world that's been a long time in the works.

Your ability to overcome challenges grows with surrender, perseverance, and dedication to staying in the moment by surrounding yourself with sober friends, a good sponsor, and therapist. Trust in the process, and know that you don't have to be alone on this journey to recovery. Pooh Bear said it best, " It's so much easier when someone believes in you."