When you are suffering from addiction, it can be easy to feel isolated and alone. You often want to hide your actions from loved ones and relationships are too easily torn apart by the impact of addiction. This is why having a connection with others is important to recovery.Opening back up to others and making those bonds is difficult to do after you have spent an extended period of time being on your own or only surrounded by those supporting your addiction. Establishing a connection with others will help your recovery progress in ways you could have never imagined.
A connection with others can motivate you towards recovery because it challenges your perceived limits and expectations. As you connect with others, your desire to continue engaging in destructive habits will decrease. This is because you bond with others over the process of healing and supporting each other.This causes you to make healing and connection a direct intention. You have a support system, a better relationship with yourself, and perhaps even a connection to a higher power or being. You will feel more motivated and better able to progress through recovery with these areas supporting you.Being able to connect with others is an extremely valuable virtue that can play a significant role in addiction recovery. Addiction causes individuals to feel isolated from the world around them, unable to form deep and lasting bonds with themselves, others, and higher beings. Learning how to connect with these can save your life and help you progress in your recovery.
Creating a relationship with yourself is one of the most important and healthy things you will ever do in your life. When you learn about yourself and construct a relationship, you are learning about your passions, desires, needs, and things that bring you joy. You become more aware of what causes you pain, allowing you to identify these things and how to combat them. This is one of the very first steps to healing.Just as you learn about your friends and family, you must seek to learn about yourself on a deeper level. Work to learn what brings you happiness and then seek to achieve it. Your self-love will only grow, causing you to not want to engage in destructive behaviors anymore. In this way, you become more balanced and more likely to live a long and fulfilling life.You can begin this process by trying meditation. Meditation helps you become self-aware of yourself, your environment, and the connection between the two. You will begin to feel more balanced, emotionally stable, and can improve certain skills such as problem-solving, memory, and concentration. Symptoms of depression will also decrease, allowing you more time to focus on the positives of life in recovery.
Isolation can lead to depression, which is a common trigger for relapse. By seeking out connections with others, you create a community of individuals that you can rely on for support in your recovery. Feelings of isolation will diminish, also causing feelings of depression to decrease.It has been known for centuries that humans long for connection and bonding, and when this occurs, happiness increases due to the release of endorphins in the brain. You can build connections with others by joining support groups or getting more involved in a sober community.When you connect with others that share your ambitions and goals, you are more likely to stick with recovery. You will be held accountable by these people and won’t want to disappoint them. For the hard days, you can lean on your sober friends for support, asking advice on how to overcome feelings of defeat.Still not convinced? Some other benefits of building connections with others include:
You will find that most treatment programs center on finding a connection to something greater than ourselves, specifically in 12-step programs. When you form a connection to a higher being, your perspective on the world changes. Of course, this higher being does not necessarily have to be God.It could be the universe, your sponsor, your desire to heal, music, nature, or anything else you feel a strong connection with that can change your world. When you form a connection to a higher being, you begin to realize that your problems are a lot smaller and less significant than you think.By taking time during the day to reflect and connect with your higher being, you are better able to appreciate the things life has given you. Your humility may increase, as well as your motivation towards recovery as you feel more inspired to continue healing. Your old thought patterns will begin to shift and eventually dissipate into healthier ones.
Humans cannot survive without connection. For centuries, bonds have been sought out to help individuals create something even better with their lives. This virtue applies to addiction recovery as well, as humans cannot move forward and expect to have a happy, fulfilling life without connection. In recovery, connection to yourself, others, and a higher being can motivate you and give you the proper tools to continue progressing. Northstar Transitions is here to help you learn the importance of connection and how to form these bonds. Contact the friendly staff for more information today at (303) 558-6400.
