CajunPrincess

I've noticed in lots of recovery communities such as this place, AA, etc. there is a lot of focus on gratitude and how important it is in recovery. Obviously I see why gratitude would be a positive thing/nice way to think, but what is it that makes it such a large part of recovery? How does it help specifically?

Also I apologize if there has been a thread on this already... it's time for sleep and there's a lot of old pages to go through...

Optimini

Hi CajunPrincess, I can't really weigh in on this but I wanted to say it's great to see you on here doing well, and sometimes I think about you and hope you are doing well. This is a good post, I'm looking forward to some inspiration answers.

Flossyteacake

For me, gratitude does a number of things. Firstly, it serves as a reminder of what I've gained by choosing not to drink. It also shows why it's so important to keep at sobriety. Finally, I find it helps maintain my sense of perspective; when I'm feeling overwhelmed or stuck in a rut of negative thinking, practising gratitude encourages me to focus on the good things in my life and realise I've really got it pretty good. I try to come up with three things every evening to be grateful for that day and I always try and come up with at least one thing that is better because I've made a choice not to drink. I find it a nice way to challenge some of the thinking part of the drinking problem.

Soberwolf

A lot of the time people think about the bad stuff but remembering the good stuff is what it's all about

Time2Rise

This pretty much sums up my take on gratitude. Reminding myself of the many good things I have in my life keeps me in a healthy frame of mind. And when I have a healthy frame of mind, I don't have a desire to drink.

MIRecovery

The point of being sober is loving the life I have. Gratitude brings all the gifts of sobriety to the forefront of my mind. I didn't give something up instead I received so much more

WhiskeyBent

gratitude. Something I need to practice a whole lot more!

entropy1964

My thinking is at the crux of who I am, how I perceive the world, myself and my addiction. My addiction loves when I'm feeling sorry for myself, comparing myself negatively to others, judging, irritable, resenting.

Gratitude is a way of turning my thinking around. Taking the focus off all I'm not and all that I cannot control, and turning it toward all that I am, have and what I can control. Being grateful is part of the paradigm shift in perspective that is necessary for recovery.

Behaviors and thoughts have a purpose both negative and positive. If the purpose is to remain sick and shackled to my addiction, then negative thinking helps accomplish this. If recovery is the goal, then positive thinking and gratitude serve that purpose.