When you go through something as serious as addiction recovery, your life will feel different. Leaving the addiction behind means you have time to focus on how to reconnect with everything you may have lost during your vulnerable period. However, re-finding and nurturing those relationships often feels daunting. It is an integral part of your healing journey, and this guide explores how it can be done.
Keep Focusing on Your Recovery
The only way that you will be able to get closer to your loved ones once more is if you continue to concentrate on your post-addiction personal progress in a proactive way. This means following all of your advice, reaching deep inside your soul and consistently making positive choices. There will be hard days and ones that you don’t even realize have finished, but what you do during this healing period will determine a lot.
Show Up
There are lots of times that you can show up, and that will be a major part of reattaching yourself to a friendship or family member. Seeing your promises through is a good place to start and will really count in the long run. So, if you say you’re going to do something, make sure you actually do it. If you can’t see something through, communication is key!
Don’t Try to Make Up for Lost Time
The biggest mistake you can make is to try to make up for the time you weren’t completely present. Instead, try to dive into the moment and be present with the people you are reconnecting with, and the current timeline. You may have missed out on some things, but you are here now and that is the point to focus on.
Remember, Trust Takes Time
Re-building trust is a process. It is unrealistic to think that things will go back to how they were before your addiction time straight away. It will take small gestures and a lot of effort to feel that connection once more. People may be hesitant to open themselves up because they feel hurt or cautious by some of your actions in the past. This is okay, and a completely normal response.
Be Kind to Yourself
Throughout everything, it is important to try and be kind to yourself. It is impossible to heal if you are stuck in a shame spiral and channeling guilt every moment of the day. Therefore, finding out what your strengths are and celebrating the positive moments will be a fantastic way to grow and foster authentic connections with the people you care about. Show up for yourself, and people will show up for you too.
The relationships in your life, whether they are friendships, family, or romantic, are a vital part of who you are. Moving through something as life changing as a recovery journey changes the way you think and feel, but one thing that will always stay the same is the warmth you get from a solid support system and social connection. Work hard to keep these strong and reconnect with the people that really care.
