The Power of Giving Yourself Grace

Maintaining recovery requires a great deal of persistence, consistency, and vigilance. However, because recovery involves a lot of work, you might become your own worst critic when deciding the successes or failures of your recovery. It might be easy to overlook how recovery moves at different paces based on the individual. Instead of moving too fast, sometimes exercising patience is just as essential to maintaining a healthy recovery. Part of learning patience depends on your ability to give yourself grace.

Giving yourself grace in recovery helps you avoid trying to let perfection rule your life. Grace also requires exercising simple awareness of who you are and who you are becoming. Further, it helps you see the opportunities within the mistakes or setbacks that you encounter and accept that such mistakes and setbacks are inevitable in life and recovery. Let’s take a look at five affirmations that will help you attain the power to give yourself grace.

Becoming Burned Out

A common mistake is mixing burnout with not being good at what you do. However, it is the contrary. Some days you might need more rest or a few more breaks than usual, and this is okay. A healthy daily structure is all about balance, and if you are feeling worked too hard, take a break to focus on some self-care. Though you might think you’re neglecting your needs or not giving something your all, when you allow moments of rest to prevent burnout, you are nurturing your recovery.

Exercising grace and resting in times of need improve wellness, even if your performance isn’t as strong as you would like. Practicing burnout avoidance should motivate you to prioritize your mental health and walk away from activities. Remember to be gentle with yourself.

Nobody is Asking You to be Perfect 

If you are the perfectionist type, you likely strive for big things; you also might set unreasonable expectations and goals for yourself. While setting goals and striving for excellence are critical in life, understand that nobody asks you to complete tasks flawlessly. Recovery is your story to tell. It requires you to embrace things, even the imperfect. When you make mistakes, take responsibility and learn from them. It is important to remember that it likely won’t be the last mistake you make. Giving into grace will allow you to see these mistakes as steps you take in life, and without them, you would not have growth. Choosing to be empathetic and good is much better than striving for perfection 24/7.

Striving to Have it All Together 

Succumbing to the idea that you need to have it all together because you are influenced by what others in your social circles post online might be easy. However, the reality of it is that having it all together is somewhat deceptive. There will be unexpected moments in life that will have you feeling out of sorts: the loss of a loved one, an accident, getting laid off, or even a pandemic. You cannot control every aspect of your life and recovery, so it is essential to control only what is realistic and achievable. Admitting you do not have the answers all the time is healthy. That’s why networks and communities in recovery are so important, because you have the opportunity to share experiences and learn from one another.

Whatever You Accomplish Today is Enough

Many people fall victim to the illusion that success is based solely on productivity and results. It might even feel good to accomplish a lot in one day. However, it is not always practical over a long period. This creates negative feelings when you accomplish a lot in one day and very little in the next. While there is always room for growth, showing yourself grace allows you to celebrate your already accomplished victories.

Even something like making your bed is a significant accomplishment that is worth celebrating. Recognizing what you have accomplished will help you understand that most of your struggle with not living up to some standard is mainly internal. You are still supported and loved by others in your network regardless of whether you think you deserve love or whether you accomplish everything you want to in a day. Ultimately, another day sober is always the priority in recovery, and that will always be worth celebrating.

Your Story Has Just Begun

Attaining sobriety offers you a fresh perspective and new opportunities to lead the life you deserve. It allows you to see the potential and possibility that awaits. However, recovery is a lifelong journey, so take time to develop into the person you want to be. While the journey will have its challenges and setbacks, giving yourself grace will still propel you forward. Grace will allow you to tell your story on your terms so you control only what you can. When you understand this, you will gain a sense of freedom and independence to achieve your goals at your pace.

Giving yourself grace in life and recovery will help you confront and learn from your mistakes and setbacks. At Choice House, we work with men to help them develop the skills necessary to understand that recovery is a journey best experienced through self-growth, and sometimes this means making mistakes. Our approach to therapy and treatment works to put men in real-world scenarios to help them endure and find the opportunities and lessons from not meeting a goal, rather than seeing them as failures. With individual, group, family, and outdoor therapy, we help men overcome the stigmas and instead open up and express their emotions and vulnerabilities. Our goal is to eradicate the stigma and advocate for the success of men that seek help for their mental health and substance use disorder. If you are struggling to manage recovery, then the time to get help is now. Find out more at (720) 577-4422.