Four Reasons Why You Need to Remind Yourself Why You Are Sober
Remind yourself that sober life is better.
Well, not always easy, considering the past two years with a pandemic and the everyday ups and downs anyone in recovery experiences.
Yet look at where you are now. You decided to get sober, stuck to it, got help, overcame obstacles, and took steps to improve your life.
Maintaining that motivation requires reminding yourself what you lost, what you have to lose, and what you have gained in life. Here are four reasons you need to remind yourself why you are sober.
# 1 A New-Found Selflove
This is perhaps the most fundamental reason to remind yourself why you are sober. No one likes themselves for abusing drugs. The person you saw in the mirror is not who you really are. Addiction is often fueled because of self-hatred.
However, being sober allows you to nurture a profound and meaningful connection on your own. You begin to learn new abilities and interests and precisely how much you have overcome. Your new-found self-love makes you stronger, wiser, and more capable.
It is really the most beautiful aspect of sobriety.
#2 A New and Improved Physical Health
Let’s face it; you were not in peak physical condition snorting cocaine and staying out all night. The only “eye of the tiger” motivation you had was curbing a brutal hangover.
Now is the time to remind yourself of the life-threatening chronic health conditions you likely avoided by staying sober:
· Diminished immune system function and infection.
· Cardiovascular problems.
· Gastrointestinal issues.
· Respiratory problems.
· Liver damage.
· Kidney damage.
· Neurological issues.
Fortunately, as you advance into a healthier life, your immune system heals, weight stabilizes, diet changes, your mindset improves, and your body heals. You become more aware of your health. By achieving your physical health goals, you become more self-conscious and in tune with your needs and wants.
#3 Additional Income
Unless you are married and have kids, you likely have additional income due to maintaining your sobriety. Addiction is costly, and we all have our stories about how much was spent.
Your sobriety has given you the ability to save money, perhaps invest, and even have money to buy groceries and pay bills. Little to no financial trouble is a big reason why you should remind yourself why you are sober.
Here are the problems you avoided:
· Wasting money on drugs and alcohol daily, weekly, and monthly.
· Having debts to dealers or other individuals.
· Owing money to friends or family.
· Falling behind in bills like rent.
· Legal bills.
· Medical bills.
This is not to say that managing finances becomes easier when sober. Yet the weight of your addiction is not sucking you dry of every last dollar you have. Be grateful for your new found financial freedom.
#4 Meaningful Friendships and Relationships
Before sobriety, your relationships and friendships were likely associated with your substance use. Family relationships were probably based on enabling and co-dependency.
Sobriety alleviates the relationships that are doing damage.
It allows you to make genuine friendships or relationships that develop and form deep connections over time. Remind yourself of the people who supported you in the right ways by not enabling your addiction.
The individuals you have in your life now are your real friends. Any relationships you begin are built on a base of sobriety.
Take Five Minutes Today to Remind Yourself of Your Strength
Our mind is tied to our sensory experiences and emotional content; it can often veer into accepting mistruths. The easiest mistruths we tend to accept are those about ourselves.
The path to long-term sobriety is filled with this and countless times when we begin to question our self-worth. It is crucial at this point to remind yourself of your strength. Everything that has been accomplished up to this point is because of that.
Consider the following few pointers:
· Look to the positives in your life, whatever that may be.
· Overcoming addiction means you have survived some of your worst days.
· Living in the here and now means you have every opportunity to do something that makes you feel courageous.
Take those five minutes, remind yourself why you are sober, and reflect on your strength, which made your sobriety possible.
