Good Life Recovery

This is our Mela camp where we gather for our evening meditation class.

Tip 9: Cultivate Peace Within and Live in the Moment

There is no better time than the holidays to cultivate a feeling of peace within. Most people these days are increasingly busy, making it a challenge to stay mindful and present to our lives. Peace is defined as “freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, or obsession; a state of tranquility or serenity.” This is a must for addicts who are vulnerable to relapse when ‘restlessness, irritability and discontent' takes over our peace.
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​Being peaceful doesn’t mean you have to be sitting still. Instead, I think of it as an inner shift in the face of our business. It’s the way we stay connected to our highest self, which in turn is connected to the higher source of knowledge, peace, and power. Becoming skilled at doing this, especially when our lives are full, is what helps us maintain a sense of serenity. For me, it is my daily meditation practice that keeps me centered, calm, and ready for each new (busy) day ahead, with all of its many challenges.

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Tip 7: Practice Gratitude

One of the most powerful tools in your recovery toolkit is gratitude. It’s impossible to feel sorry for ourselves when we are being grateful. That does not mean dismissing real emotional pain. There are lots of things that are hard in life. Working these issues through is important to have a life worth living. But often, our ‘stinking thinking’ is what keeps us spinning our wheels. It’s the tendency to see the glass of life half-empty rather than half-full and becoming help-rejecting complainers. We become restless, irritable, and discontent – primed for another drink. And trust me – no one likes being around us when we are like this.

Gratitude, much like happiness, is a state of mind. Cultivating gratitude is a good, intelligent habit in recovery. It gets us focussed on what we do have, rather than what we don’t.

Neuroscience is very convincing on this topic. What we focus on is what we become. When we decide to stay connected to the small and large ways in which we are blessed, our lives improve. It’s an upward-moving spiral.

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Tip 5: Define Your Boundaries

Having strong boundaries means holding on to your truth in the face of peer pressure or standing out as ‘different’. The truth is, as someone who can’t drink, in a culture promoting drinking at this time of year, you are different. But, different isn’t a problem if we don’t make it one. It just means we know that what others can do, is off limits for us.

Know what your limits are at this time of year. Maybe leaving a party early is what supports your sobriety. Maybe declining to participate in events that are going to lead to a relapse, is a good decision for you.

Some of us have never contemplated the fact that “no” is a complete sentence. The idea that our value and worth as a friend and/or partner demands that we be ‘all things to all people,’ blurs our boundaries. Life ought to be a choice, not a burden. Stay within the bounds of acceptable choices that support your sobriety, and you will be amazed at how empowered you feel.

https://goodliferecovery.ca/