Why do some people adapt to life’s lessons while others buckle under the pressure? There’s no secret: it all comes down to resilience. However, resilience is a puzzle that many do not understand, but with research and dedication, the applications of resilience start to reflect the true meaning behind life’s lessons. Many people believe that resilience is a balancing act of experiencing hardship and understanding how to apply its lessons to their own life, but how does that relate to addiction treatment and recovery? Moreover, why does it matter?
Resilience helps determine who succeeds and who fails in life. This can be anything, from simple things like tying your shoes to how you approach education to releasing yourself from the burdens of addiction. A level of resilience can develop if the training is put in place to reach for it. Resilience matters in everything that you do in life. In fact, resilience is probably one of the biggest things that matters in your life, especially after treatment. The more experience, education, understanding, and training you apply to your life, the larger your tolerance and resilience levels become.
Research on resilience has uncovered distinct qualities associated with life’s lessons and adaptations. Many resilient younger adults find out that both training consistently and developing their talents attracts others that can help them deepen their levels of understanding and increase their resilience at the same time. The same mindset applies to recovery. When one individual sees that another has undergone a treatment process and is living their life in a different light, it may influence them to train their own level of resilience.
Resilience comes down to three components: acceptance of real life, a deep understanding and structure of beliefs, and purpose-driven values with improvisation. These three components allow resilient people to bounce back through life even when the pressure starts to get to them. By undergoing substance use treatment, you have already developed these three components of resilience, and you now have the ability to apply them consistently for the rest of your life. However, this is not always easy to do. Your level of resilience requires dedication and push now more than ever.
Being optimistic does not dull your sense of reality, but it can shift your perspective away from accepting mediocrity. If you are okay with being average or living a mediocre life, your optimism or resilience will not grow and develop into what you wanted to be.
Therefore, the first part of resilience comes down to the acceptance of life, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept mediocrity. If you want to build your resilience, open up your mind to being more optimistic and train your mind to accept reality and portray what your future reality could be.
Next, building your resilience for your life after treatment requires a deeper understanding of life itself. This part of resilience is trained by educating yourself. It includes building your structure of beliefs and diving into research and studies about what you’ve been through, what you’re going through, and what you could fall prey to in the future. If you prepare yourself with knowledge, you have the power to control your level of resistance, which leads to building your tolerance of resilience.
The last component of resilience is to drive purpose through values and improvisation. There may be times that you have to question if you understand or accept the reality of your situation. However, you should frame your next question using improvisation, figuring out how you can use reality to better develop your life. Often, facing reality is hard and requires levels of emotional tolerance that not everyone can manage on their own.
The same goes for addiction treatment. Undergoing treatment and reestablishing themselves back into post-treatment life will not be the easiest for every single person. Therefore, when you focus on improving your level of resilience, understanding, and moral values, you have a newfound understanding of what it takes to confront reality.
Additionally, by going through unique challenges after treatment, you are learning to train your mind to grow a stronger resilience, which develops you as a person.
When you can link the building blocks to the components of resilience, you have the capability of not just getting through life but fully prospering in it. No longer are you a victim of the past; instead, you are a victor of your present and future. Learning to be resilient to certain challenges in life can greatly enhance your life after treatment.
If you struggle with bouncing back or you feel you’re wavering in your recovery from addiction, find someone who understands you and your situation. They can redirect you to the right path. The confidence that you established in treatment is still there. Taking advantage of the resources and tools available can help you reclaim the meaning of your life, now and in the future. At NorthStar Transitions, we understand what it’s like to give meaning back to life through strength and resilience. We understand that adopting life lessons with resilience is essential when finding your happiness and engaging in situations that may seem hopeless. Our team of compassionate professionals helps you confront hopeless situations and gives you the resources to retrain yourself, freeing your mind from negativity. If you or someone you love are in recovery and wants to learn how to build levels of resilience, contact us today at (303) 558-6400.
