Discover How to Love Yourself in Recovery

Substance use can destroy a person’s self-esteem. It can also lead to feelings of guilt, shame, and worthlessness. It may be tough to love yourself if you’re recovering from substance use, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on yourself. There are many ways to love yourself and boost your self-confidence during recovery.

Take Action That Improves Your Self-Confidence

Do you love your body and the way you look? Are you proud of how you performed at work? Do you feel that you’re living a healthy life?
If yes, then congratulations! Feeling good about ourselves improves the likelihood of maintaining long-term good habits beneficial for recovery.
A self-esteem boost is one of the most powerful things that can help you feel good about yourself after years of substance use. It often takes some time to develop a sense of pride for those recovering from SUD, but it’s essential. If you want to start loving yourself and achieve self-confidence, go for it! The list below includes several suggestions you can make to boost your self-confidence.

• Go outside and enjoy nature: Spending time outdoors helps you feel better about yourself because you can get away from your worries, distractions, or stress at home. You can appreciate the world’s simple beauty amidst your struggles in nature.
• Balance your workday: If you have a heavy workload at work, find a time during the week where you can calm down and relax. You might find that getting some exercise while doing some mindless activities can help boost your mood and give yourself some needed energy!
• Take an interest in something new: If you’ve always been interested in sports but never pursued it seriously because it seemed too competitive or too difficult, now is the time to try something new.
• Exercise regularly: Do a little exercise each day, even just walking on the treadmill with your home gym equipment before bed. This will help strengthen and tone muscles in your body and improve your energy.
• Read self-help books: Read a few books on self-help topics, like learning new skills, to help you take charge of your life.
• Spruce up your style: Take time to invest in your appearance with a new haircut or wardrobe. Do this for you, not others. You can find suitable items at a thrift store or go to a barber school for discounted prices.
• Consider therapy: Therapy is a great outlet to express and process your feelings and thoughts. Also, your therapist can teach healthy models to cope and process your emotions and behaviors.

Change Your Outlook, Reflect on Your Growth

Rather than focusing on the negative thoughts about yourself, focus on the positive aspects of your recovery. This is why self-love is so important. If you can’t love yourself for who you are, how can you enjoy being yourself? Consider these  tips to help encourage self-love:

• Celebrate new victories by taking a moment to look back at your accomplishments during your recovery.
• Reflect on all the things you learned during your recovery journey and reflect positively on those experiences.
• Recognize the progress you’ve made over time with friends and family members. SUD can take away from our relationships with loved ones. But recovery helps people with a SUD restore valuable relationships. Take note of your progress with these relationships.

Surround Yourself With Positive People

There is no better place to start building self-confidence than with your friends, family, and peers. Research shows that friends and family members can be your most prominent advocates for self-esteem. Because friends and family can give you a lot of valuable information about yourself that is positive thus, they help you develop a more positive outlook on yourself. Research shows that people with close relationships have an easier time accepting themselves and not judging others for their behavior. In addition, people who have strong relationships are happier later in life than those who don’t have a close relationship.

Practice Positive Self-Affirmations

One of the best ways to keep yourself motivated is to make your affirmations. Affirmations are simply statements that you repeat, such as, “I am great!” or “I can do this!” You can use daily affirmations to help you stay focused on your goals. Positive affirmations can replace negative self-talk. Instead, positive thoughts can serve as a reminder that you are worthy of love and respect. Using negative sentiments like “I am worthless” or “I am not good enough” hurts your self-esteem. Instead of using them, try using more positive words like “I am good at this” or “I am strong enough to make it through these challenges.”

We hope our list gets you started with rebuilding self-love and confidence. Such attributes will benefit your recovery greatly.

 Building your self-confidence can improve your chances of long-term recovery during your journey. Don’t allow shame or guilt to weigh you down along the recovery process. Instead, focus on improving your self-image to improve your willpower, habits, and self-control in the long run. Many find the recovery process sometimes challenging. Yet, rebuilding your self-image can assist you through the challenging recovery times. When a person holds value oneself, odds are they will pursue healthier outcomes. Hence, we recommend creating a plan of recovery that helps you feel better about yourself daily. Such a plan will help you monitor your growth and feelings. At Restoration Recovery Center, we’ll give you the tools and information you need to help yourself and others through the recovery process. We’ll show you how to build a new outlook on life and overcome SUD with the help of our clinicians. To learn more about our stellar program, contact us at (888) 290-0925.