Addiction recovery is not just about learning to abstain from our addictive substances and behaviors. It’s also about recreating our lives and finding purpose and fulfilment. It’s about finding healthy ways of stopping our patterns of self-destructiveness. One of the best ways we can return to ourselves and live from a place of purpose is to work to rediscover our passions – our interests, gifts and skills, the things we love to do and are passionate about. When we look to where our natural talent lies, we find joy and peace of mind. We find serenity and tranquility. We find the power of our purpose. When we live from that place, we fulfill our sense of purpose in a way we simply can’t if we neglect what we love.

Our addictions and the mental health issues that accompany them, often called co-occurring disorders, have a way of taking over our lives to such an extent that we forget who we are. We forget what we loved to do. We forget why we’re in this life, in this body, having this unique experience. Working to recover is about rediscovering these things. When you were younger, before addiction took hold of your life, what did you love to do? What did you look forward to? What made you excited to start the day? What were your dreams and aspirations? As a child, many of us dreamt about the careers we would one day have, and we didn’t allow our dreams to be confined by the limitations and expectations of society. What you did you yearn to do, before you knew what financial responsibility was, before your anxiety about money and debt started to change the course of your direction? We feel glimpses of our passions when we take time to pay attention to them, when we stop trying so hard to change the subject by burying them under our addictions.

Allow yourself to daydream again. When you get quiet within yourself and listen for your inner voice, what is it telling you that you should be doing? What do you feel incomplete without? For many of us, there’s that one pursuit that without which we feel restless and frustrated. Our hearts crave it. Our minds return to it, no matter how much we might have avoided it or distanced ourselves from it with our addictions. When we open our hearts to letting ourselves explore our passions, we give ourselves the chance to be happy. Our happiness and wellness are the ultimate goal in our recovery. When we allow ourselves to give energy to our passions, we’re giving ourselves a huge advantage in the recovery process.

We’re here to support you in your journey. Your recovery is our priority, and we’re totally committed to helping you attain it. Call 888-570-7154 for information about our treatment programs.