How Will Next Year Be Different?

How Will Next Year Be Different?

When you embrace sobriety, life changes. As we approach the holidays and a new year, many of those in recovery wonder how the next year will be different and whether they can embrace it. It can be scary thinking about life now that you are sober. Leading a normal, happy life can be fun and exciting if you give it a chance. Let’s explore the question of “How will next year be different?”

The first difference you will notice when you embrace sobriety is how much better you feel physically. There is of course the initial withdrawal period that is very difficult, but once you have gone through that you will begin to feel healthier. No more waking up with hangovers, feeling dehydrated and fatigued. Addicts begin to think that sick feeling is a normal feeling. Once you are sober you realize how freeing it is to feel good and look forward to each day. You will have the energy and desire to be more active and enjoy life.

A big surprise to many people is how much better they feel mentally. When you abuse alcohol and/or drugs, it creates chemical reactions in your brain, increasing and decreasing your serotine and dopamine. This constant up and down chemical reaction impacts your mental health and can create depression symptoms over time. If there are any underlying mental health issues, your symptoms can be even worse. Once your body physically recovers from the alcohol and drug chemical reactions, then the symptoms will improve. Potential underlying mental health conditions, such as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, etc. can now be treated effectively without interference from the drugs and alcohol. Mentally, you will begin to feel better and that will improve your life.

Now that you have embraced sobriety, you will discover a huge change in your priorities. Your brain can now function clearly without the brain fog that comes with drug and alcohol use. Your ability to think rationally and respond to situations appropriately will make you a happier person and allow you to move forward with your life. You can now focus clearly on your family, friends, career, school, hobbies, and whatever else makes you feel fulfilled.

Your relationships with loved ones and friends will be some of the biggest changes you experience. Some of your friendships will change. You will learn to let go of those friends whose sobriety goals don’t align with yours and develop new friends through your recovery groups. One of the biggest keys to maintaining your sobriety is by surrounding yourself with people who support your sobriety. You may also see old friends and relationships that had gone away during your addiction time come back and rebuild into strong relationships now that you are sober.

All relationships are built on trust. It is going to take some time for you to rebuild the trust of people you may have hurt during the depth of your addiction. The best thing you can do to rebuild that trust is show them that your commitment to sobriety is permanent and that you are working to make positive changes in your life. It will take time to rebuild the trust you lost, but it will come if you work at it. The trust will develop slowly, but eventually you will be able to develop a strong, healthy, and trusting relationship again with those people who are special to you.

You may have several messes that you need to clean up from your addicted life: financial, legal, emotional, or even physical issues. Regardless of what the mess is, you can clean it up, it just takes time and focus. Life may not turn out exactly as you had wanted, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be good. If you keep clear goals in mind, you will be able to achieve the things you want and lead a healthy, happy life.

Aspire Counseling Services provides the support that you need to get and stay sober. The counselors at Aspire will help you to face your upcoming new year with all the tools you need to be successful with your sobriety. Call us today to begin your journey to recovery and make next year different.