Written by N
Motivation in Recovery
In our group session we spoke about motivation and simplicity! I have been thinking about it all since and so decided to write about it in a post here! Although simplicity is obviously a very important topic when it comes to recover from ED I will focus on the motivation part here for now but I will attempt to do it in a simple way!!
Motivation is what makes me want to pursue or learn about something! If I can find ways to make recovery enjoyable or interesting I will be more likely to practice it and therefore learn and move forward on my journey!
Often I attach pressure and perfectionism and allow these to “motivate” me! I am learning that it is not helpful or necessary to allow these to take over! In fact usually they only end up making me feel less motivated and overwhelmed!
Taking time to find out what motivates me! Take time to question if my motivation is coming from a desire to please others or to please myself or to look after my own needs! Take time to identify my own reasons for doing something! When I do it for me the motivation has more power and usually leads to more success!
Invest in recovery! Every ounce of time and energy I put into my daily recovery is beneficial and worthwhile no matter how little I do it all adds up over time! Little by little the investment grows and then this in turn can motivate me to help it grow even more!
Valuing all I have done and continue to do for my recovery keeps me motivated! Credit instead of judgement and reassurance instead of scaring myself helps too! I tell myself I am great and I block out the other voice that says I could be better! I focus on how far I have come and all the work I have done!
Asking myself questions and being curious about who I am and what I want to feel and think helps me to be motivated! It sparks my interest and helps me to wonder! It keeps recovery interesting and fresh!
Taking care of my needs is essential! It is always going to be difficult to be motivated if I am hungry or tired! If motivation seems to be diminishing I check in to see are these needs being met first! And often once I have done this it is easier to find the motivation for other parts of my recovery!
Ignoring the voice of “Condition” and listening to my own voice is always wiser! Condition will try to hijack your own reasons for doing things! It will want you to serve “it” only! Practicing listening to my own voice and deciding my own motivation for doing something gets easier over time! And the more skilled I become at it the easier it has become to feel motivated to more towards full recovery!
Opt for laughter and joy! It is always easier to feel motivated if I can find the fun in something! Recovery does not have to be so serious all the time! I like to laugh and enjoy life so it makes sense to practice finding ways to do this in recovery too!
Never give up! No matter how many times I seemed to have fallen off the recovery road I have managed to get back up there! And now I use this as a motivation to keep on going! If I got back up before surely I can do it again?
So that is my little acrostic poem all about motivation! I enjoyed listening to everybody’s sharing on the topic today! And now I will simplify it further here and ask myself the question; “What did I learn about motivation?”
- Motivation comes from within! Finding things to motivate me in my recovery is key!
- Motivation does not mean “all or nothing”! I do not need to push myself all the time and call it motivation! Balance is key!
- Challenges can be used as motivation in recovery! It is all about how I choose to look at a situation! Negativity or difficulties can be turned into motivation!
- Reflecting on all of the steps I have taken towards my recovery, no matter how small they may seem, will keep me motivated to keep on going!
- Imagining a life free from ED and imagining that this is possible, not only for others but also for me, will help me to find the motivation I need to keep going along the journey!
The word motivation is defined as “The reason why somebody does something or behaves in a particular way”.
As I read this definition now, I feel that by spending time thinking about this topic, I have maybe dug a little deeper and found out some of the reasons why I do things or behave in a certain way! I won’t judge these reasons but what I will do is choose if my motivations could do with a little tweaking! I have been learning that often with awareness comes clarity! And having greater clarity on what motivates me will hopefully help me to keep me going steadily along my road to freedom!
Nx!
