You’ve come this far in your recovery. Now don’t let your idle hands be the devil’s playground. Recovery doesn’t end the second you leave treatment. If you paid attention during treatment, then you should be very well aware of this fact. Recovery is a lifelong process. It certainly changes along the way, but you should always be vigilant and aware of your own well-being. No matter how long you have been sober, you should always have a recovery plan in the process. Here are a few helpful suggestions that you may want to incorporate into your own recovery plan.

Take Your Time

You need to give yourself a break from “life”. Don’t try to push yourself too fast, and expect too much to happen too soon. Addicts tend to be very hard on themselves, so you should be aware of this, and remember to chill out a little bit when you first really take a self inventory. Getting this far in your recovery is already quite an accomplishment. You’re doing great! Expect that you may not feel so great about yourself for a while, but stick with it. You will feel better!

Clean Up Your Surroundings

Once you make it home after completing your treatment at a facility such as Arista Recovery (check https://www.aristarecovery.com/ to learn more), you should immediately clean up anything in your home that is associated with your addiction. Anything in your surrounding that triggers your old habits should be taken out of your home. The same concept should be applied to your circle of friends and family. Anyone who is not on board with your recovery should not be around for a while. You need time to build up your strength before placing yourself in a peer pressure situation. Even family members that are not supportive should be kept at a distance for a while. You need to focus on you and your own standards. Everyone else’s agenda should be secondary.

Talk Talk Talk

Communication is key in recovery. You have to talk and expose your demons to begin allowing yourself to be free of those things. When you are struggling, talk to your family. Remember that your old coping mechanisms aren’t positive or productive towards your recovery. Maybe exhausting your thoughts and ideas will help to calm your mind. Once you are done talking, you will find that your glamorized ideas may not be so great. You will take the mystique out of using when you verbally express their control over your life. If you are not close to your family, find some sort of safety net of people. Twelve step meetings are a great place to meet like minded people. Just be careful to choose friends that have the same goals as you do when it comes to recovery.