To become better people, we must work consistently to endure the ups and downs of life, and find what it takes for us to stand back up again. When we have a desire to be the best we can be, it requires a certain commitment that says, “I choose to never give up on myself.” To stay devoted to this commitment, we must first choose ourselves, partake only in things that make us better people, and actively keep pursuing what has proven to heal us. To remain in recovery, I have had to remain consistent. It’s because of this consistency that I’ve been able to heal so much of my pain.
Recovery is not something you “try on for size.” It is not a trend to be romanticized. For those of us who struggle with addiction, consistently choosing to live our life in recovery is the only way we can actively feel like we’re part of something. There is not a temporary fix, or “diet” option of recovery. To truly get better, you have to be all in, and make the consistent choice each day to improve.
Staying Consistent With My Pursuits
Being consistent is a matter of doing things over with the intention of gradually improving — not just doing them out of unconscious habit. I’ve tried to continuously cultivate the desire to improve myself from the very beginning of my recovery. Without that desire, I would have never pushed myself to grow as much as I have.
When my addiction was in control, it was easy for me to keep digging myself into a deeper hole. Now, with my recovery in mind every day and my drive to better myself continually moving me forward, it has been easier for me to keep focusing on what’s ahead of me versus what I’ve left behind. For recovery to work, we must commit to a lifetime of consistency. Recovery is our choice to show up for life each and every day.
The Benefits of Consistent Recovery
The worth of my promises decreased in value the further I lost myself to my addictions. I was quick to bail on commitments with friends and family. My priorities were always based around when I could get high again, or when my next opportunity to black out would be. In recovery, I learned to live by a new mantra: I say what I mean and I mean what I say. And I’ve been feeling the benefits of it ever since.
I no longer commit to anything that will further me from myself, I practice saying “no” when I don’t want to do something, and I show up for those who show up for me. When you start demanding more from yourself, the people in your life will start to take notice. When you are consistent in your actions, people will never have to question whether you mean what you say.
Why would we want to choose anything other than improvement? Regardless of how quickly we may get there, or how long it may take us, the important thing is that we choose to get better consistently. This is not to say that you will never have a bad day again, because you most definitely will — that’s just reality. But choosing to get better consistently is what allows us to keep picking ourselves back up. When we build our recovery muscle, and we consistently get stronger with each day, the bad days will get easier to deal with. The longest project we will ever work on is ourselves. What better way to spend the time than by consistently choosing to make ourselves better?
The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.