Being patient with yourself is one of the most critical parts of recovery from substance use or mental illness. Healing takes time, the process is not linear, and there is no endpoint since recovery is a life-long journey.
Shifting Your Expectations
It can be helpful to shift your expectation of yourself and your recovery. It is all too easy to set yourself up for disappointment when you have grandiose expectations of what you should do and how recovery should look. When it does not go as planned, you might take that as failure, and your confidence and motivation are damaged.
Releasing expectations and allowing the process to unfold naturally is what allows you to gain momentum, find peace in where you are, and achieve self-acceptance in recovery.
Making Acceptance the Goal
You may think that if you accept your current circumstances and yourself, you will not create the change you desire. However, the opposite is true.
Acceptance is the launchpad for change to happen. It is only when you stop resisting or denying your circumstances that you can then move forward instead of feeling stuck. Make acceptance your first goal, and take steps from there.
Taking It One Step at a Time
Recovery and healing are not linear processes. Some weeks may feel amazing, and other weeks you may feel tempted to go back to familiar patterns that were detrimental because change can be scary.
Just because discomfort is present does not mean you are doing anything wrong. Discomfort is part of the process. Feeling discomfort in change is a sign that you are moving in the “right” direction, in alignment with your goals and desires. You do not have to make monumental changes all at once. Instead, find small ways to push yourself every day and, in time, you will realize the small steps have added up to big change.
Releasing Pressure
Releasing pressure from yourself to have flexibility in goals can give you patience, perspective, and even increased motivation. Meeting yourself where you are and releasing the expectations and pressure you have on yourself can lead to liberation as you let go of old ways of being and embrace new ones.
Recovery is challenging, but you may find more ease when you release expectations, pressure, and comparison. Letting go of the rigid control you want to hold over the process is the way you can discover yourself, embrace inner peace, and move at your own pace.
Giving yourself time to recover and heal takes practice to cultivate and begin to embody. It can be challenging to do, especially if you are used to holding yourself to high expectations and placing pressure on yourself to be perfect. Shifting the expectation, anchoring into acceptance, and releasing pressure from yourself are important pieces of healing. At Avalon Malibu, we can support you to begin to release control and allow yourself time to recover. If you are ready to begin your recovery journey, call Avalon Malibu today at (844) 857-5992.
