In a recent blog entry, we encouraged you to take up journaling as a way to support your sobriety. We considered a number of different approaches that can be useful on your recovery journey.
Still and all, it can be hard to start a journal. A blank page—whether in a notebook or on your computer screen—can be surprisingly intimidating. And when you are unsure how to get started, it can seem like the easiest thing to do is to leave the page blank and move on to other things.
But we stand by our suggestions that journaling can be a great way to firm up the foundations of your recovery, and so we want to help you get going. Below, we share some journaling prompts intended to get you thinking—and writing.
Prompt One: Think About Your Goals
Of course, when a person is in recovery from a substance use disorder, their biggest goal is to maintain their sobriety over time. But let’s set that goal to one side for the moment.
Other than staying sober, what would you say is your biggest goal? Write that goal down, and write a few sentences or notes about why the goal is important to you. Next, write down the very first thing you think you need to do to start moving toward the accomplishment of your goal.
Your journal can be a great place to sketch out a plan and to celebrate your progress toward an important goal. Sometimes writing a goal down is a great way to shift it from a vague idea to a more concrete project to which you are committed.
Prompt Two: Think About Your Relaxation
Let’s face it: Most of us are pretty bad at taking time off—even if we are just talking about leaving your desk for a lunch break. Your journal can be a great place to consider ways to build more relaxing and recharging into your routine.
You might devote a few journal entries to remembering activities you truly enjoy—or have truly enjoyed in the past. What made those hobbies enjoyable? How could you bring them back into your life—or evolve them into something you would enjoy now? And how can you make sure you give yourself time to enjoy them? Working these things through in your journal can help you reprioritize your time so that relaxation is built into your busy schedule.
Prompt Three: Think About Your Relationships
Positive relationships support your sobriety. Toxic relationships do not. Your journal might be a place for you to work through the major relationships in your life. What’s working and what isn’t? Who builds you up, and who tears you down? Who makes it less likely you will be tempted to return to drugs or alcohol, and who makes it more likely?
Your journal is a place where you can be honest with yourself about your relationships. And that can help you make good choices—even when it is difficult—so that your sobriety is supported by the people closest to you.
Prompt Four: Think About Your Sobriety
Sometimes it is an excellent idea to take a few minutes to think through the ways in which your life is better because you did the hard work of getting sober. Thinking about the blessings in your life that have been made possible by sobriety can be a powerful way to protect that sobriety.
This exercise has a lot in common with a gratitude journal, in which you write down three things you are grateful for every day. It is totally okay if your sobriety is the first item on your list each and every day. Then you might fill the other two slots with positive things your sobriety makes possible.
Be Prompt When it Comes to Getting Help for a Substance Use Disorder
If you are struggling with drugs or alcohol, you may be reluctant to seek out treatment for any number of reasons. You might be embarrassed or convinced you don’t really have a problem or worried that treatment is a waste of time. You might simply be unsure of what to expect in treatment.
We get it. The unknown can be scary, and putting treatment off can help push that fear off for a little while. But when you do that, you allow the substances you are taking to continue to do damage to your physical health, your mental health, your financial well-being, your relationships, and more. That is why getting help promptly—by which we mean immediately—is always your best move.
At French Creek Recovery Center—located in Meadville, Pennsylvania—we provide evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders. We will see you through detoxification and rehabilitation and then offer ongoing support as part of our continuum of care. When you are ready to make a change for the better, we are ready to help.