It’s normal to want things to happen immediately – after all, smartphones have made us accustomed to instant gratification with just one click of a button. What’s more, when you’re in active addiction, you become used to a cycle of wanting and quickly scoring your drug of choice. This type of mindset can cause unrealistic expectations about recovery. We can’t “fix” our addiction in a short amount of time. Instead, addiction recovery is a life-long process of healing and growth that requires time patience – but it is well worth it! The Benefits of Having Patience Having patience can help you better mentally prepare for the time, commitment and ups and downs of recovery. It can also help to prevent frustration by making you more mindful, grateful and satisfied with the treatment process. Additionally, patient people often develop inner peace and self-acceptance since they’re more patient with themselves as well as with loved ones. Patient people also rate themselves as less depressed and more positive, perhaps because patience helps you cope better with stress. Practicing to be Patient Patience really is a virtue – and some of us are better at it than others. The good news is that there a few things you can do during addiction treatment to help develop patience.

• Don’t’ take the short way out. Instead, give each recovery activity your full attention and really work the steps. It’s also helpful to remind yourself that the best way to do things is not always the quickest way.
• Try hobbies that require patience. For example, doing puzzles, crossword puzzles, coloring or gardening can all help you exercise your patience.
• Practice meditation or slow breathing. These techniques will help you to stay in the moment rather than lose your patience worrying about the future. Meditation and breathing techniques can also help you release any pent-up anger or frustration that may be causing you to easily lose your patience.
• Be thankful for all the good in life. People who are grateful have been found to be better at patiently delaying gratification. This is because if you’re thankful for what you have today, you’re less desperate for more and better things to happen in the future.

Relapse Prevention at Makana Path At Makana Path, we’ll help you or someone love develop the skills necessary to commit to lifelong sobriety. To learn more about our holistic approach to relapse prevention, call us today: 866-922-0776.