The recovery process brings with it some intense mental and emotional challenges, many of which can be hard to contend with and can make the work we’re doing that much harder. One of these challenges is how defeated we can feel, especially when things aren’t going as well as we would like them to. We grow disappointed in ourselves when we fall short of our expectations, and our deep disappointment and the shame we feel can make us want to give up and stop trying altogether. We judge ourselves, criticize ourselves and beat ourselves up, depleting our already dwindling energy even more. We feel drained and exhausted. We question whether or not we have the strength to keep going. We wonder if we’re even meant to succeed, and we fear that we’ll always be struggling. How can we restore our motivation and enthusiasm for recovery when we’re feeling defeated?
When we’re feeling down on ourselves, when we feel our motivation faltering, it’s often because we’re lacking in inspiration. A powerful way to inspire ourselves and to renew our motivation is to focus on what we’re working towards – our sobriety, our well-being, the powerful new version of ourselves we can be happy with and proud of. We can find inspiration by focusing on the goals that are the foundation of all the work we’re doing – inner peace, contentment and satisfaction, growth, transformation, and success. Whenever we’re feeling unmotivated, let’s take some time to visualize ourselves fully healed. Let’s picture what we would look like, what we would be doing, where we would be in life, how we would be feeling. Let’s create a visualization around our highest, truest, happiest self and meditate on that version of ourselves. When we’re focusing too much energy on how unmotivated we feel, it’s the unmotivated version of ourselves we’re meditating on, and that’s the version of ourselves we’re manifesting. Let’s instead meditate on, visualize and manifest the motivated, enthusiastic, excited, hopeful version of ourselves and let that be our inspiration to keep going.
What inspires you to keep going in your recovery? What inspires you in life? What are your motivations for wanting to get better in the first place? What are your reasons for needing to shed your addictive patterns and un-wellness? Explore your inner self for the greater purpose behind your recovery work, and let that purpose inspire you whenever you’re feeling tired, depleted, unmotivated and defeated.
Riverside Recovery is committed to helping you get back the life you love. Our treatment programs include multiple forms of therapy, family workshops, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention education. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information.