You may have heard that recovery is all about discipline. However, this isn’t necessarily true. There are many complex elements associated with recovery that go beyond discipline. In addition, just because someone relapses or reaches a difficult point in their journey doesn’t necessarily mean that they were lacking discipline.
Recovery is called a journey because it is a complicated experience with ups and downs and continual growth happening. You are constantly looking to better yourself along the way, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be days of temptation or tribulation. Recovery is about recognizing your flaws, dedicating yourself to your sobriety, and taking active steps each day to live life as the best version of yourself.
Why Can’t We Say That Recovery Is All About Discipline?
Consider what discipline means to you. It can be practiced or exhibited in a lot of different ways. For example, you could show self-discipline by enduring grueling workouts every day as you train for a marathon. Or you could show self-discipline by avoiding eating that extra slice of cake after dinner and staying committed to your diet.
While discipline and inner strength do play a role in your recovery, they are certainly not the whole part. You may show discipline in terms of your recovery by keeping up with your therapy sessions or making sure not to skip 12-Step support group meetings. Maybe you are also showing discipline by staying away from people or places that you think could threaten your sobriety.
But even in having this discipline and dedication, you can still reach hard patches in your recovery. Relapse is not due solely to a lack of discipline. Also, it doesn’t mean that you do not have enough willpower. It may just mean that you may need to readjust your treatment plan accordingly and recommit to your recovery. Recovery is a continual process that we must choose each and every day.
If Recovery Is Not All About Discipline, What Else Is It About?
Recovery is not all about discipline. It is also about getting to know yourself better and learning how to respond to different emotions. This is something that we can help you accomplish at Pathways Recovery Center.
The more you know about yourself, the better you’ll be able to process how and why you respond in different situations. You will be able to regulate your emotions better and respond to them in more positive, constructive ways.
An important aspect of this is learning to understand what the root cause of your addiction may be. The root cause is whatever factor or factors caused you to turn to substance misuse in the first place. This can be different for everyone. It may take some serious self-reflection into your past to figure out.
In many cases, people turn to substance misuse because they experienced some sort of trauma. This could be recent trauma or something that happened long ago that you buried deep down and tried to ignore. While you can pretend that whatever it is doesn’t exist, it will continue to eat away at you until you confront it.
Other root causes of addiction can be tied to things like having a sick family member, struggling financially, experiencing a job loss, or going through a divorce. It can be tied to having a stressful job, being unhappy in a relationship, or not feeling satisfied with your life. Whatever it is, you must address it and begin to heal from it in order to move on. Failing to do so may mean that you turn back to substance misuse following treatment.
Working with a therapist can help you to pinpoint the root cause of your addiction and learn to address it. This is something that we can help with at Pathways Recovery Center.
What Else Is Recovery About?
Recovery is also about learning life skills that help you to be a better person and make good decisions. One of these skills is stress management. We all experience stress at some point in our day-to-day life, but it is how we handle it that makes all the difference.
Many people handle stress in maladaptive ways. They may lash out at others and say hurtful things they don’t mean. Or they may turn to substance misuse to cope instead of confronting the problem head-on. In recovery, you’ll learn more productive and healthy ways to handle stress.
You could say that recovery is also about making mistakes from time to time. It is impossible to be perfect all the time and it can be very frustrating to try. By making mistakes, you will learn valuable lessons that will help you as you make your way through recovery in the many years to come.
You can have all the discipline in the world and still struggle within your path of recovery for different reasons. Recovery is a complex journey that will have high points and low points. Your job is to remain committed, put in the work, and try your best. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for having a bad day once in a while. The point is that you are learning and growing as you become a better version of yourself. If you’re ready to seek treatment for substance misuse, our team at Pathways Recovery can help. Give us a call at (888) 771-0966 today and we will be happy to talk about the treatment we provide.
