Holidays, Recovery

Conversations in Recovery: What Is Hope?

The beginning of the New Year brings hope to many. People take the time on December 31st to make resolutions and set goals anticipating they will achieve them.

Hope is the idea that things will change or get better in the future. At some point, everyone holds optimism towards what they think their life will bring. Similarly, you can feel hope when you begin to put your health ahead of harmful habits. However, you must first envision a life utilizing your new healthy habits, freeing yourself from what brings you pain, emotional upset, or harm.

Hope Is Personal

Hope is personal and difficult to define as it entails expectations, desires, and trust in the process. However, the value within hope is recognized and hard to ignore. You may think of hope as something that helps build your resolve. Maybe when you were at your worst, the hope of getting better provided the light you needed to enter a detoxification program and continue your healing with substance addiction treatment.

Despite the unknown and the possibility of life upending your goals, there is the belief of something positive and even life-altering happening. Think of your belief in your recovery as a prism. When sunlight strikes a prism, it sends out the colors of the rainbow. Rainbows hold infinite possibilities for many. For example, when growing up, you may have heard of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Did you ever try to find the pot of gold? If you did, then you know what it’s like to believe in the seemingly impossible. Your future, at times, can seem challenging and impractical. However—despite the difficulties—you continue to search for the rainbow’s end because there’s always the chance of wealth, health, friendship, and personal growth.

Hope Is A Goal

Your dedication to improving your physical and mental health by entering detox or substance addiction treatment signals your willingness to commit to personal growth. You chose to shift how you cope with emotional or challenging situations by setting healthy goals. With the help of a therapist, you set achievable goals that are flexible. The anticipation you feel when motivated to pursue your future is the picture of hope.

You can think of hope as a way to conceptualize yourself making healthy changes in your life. As a result, you can shift how you feel, react, and move forward. Charles Snyder’s Hope Theory defines hope as a human strength, a life-sustaining force comprised of three relevant parts:

Goals: When you think about a dream, you set a clear path to recognize the essentials.
Pathways: Once you set your goal, think about what you need to do to achieve it. Then you can work with your therapist to set up a goal checklist.
Agency: The capacity to begin and maintain your drive is your agency. For example, committing to becoming clean and sober is a goal. Everything you do, leading up to aftercare is also part of the goal. Once you complete a substance addiction program, your commitment to attend group meetings or find what helps you maintain your sobriety is your agency.

What Is Your Style of Hope?

There are different types of hope. You can base your hope on reality, improve the well-being of a community, or you can choose hope.

Reality-based hope recognizes your state of being and the best possible outcomes. For example, if you have chronic pain, you can hope to experience slight relief and realize you may never have complete comfort.
The belief you can share a goal of making life better for a collective or community is utopian thinking. Instead, think about a cause you believe in. The goal you share with others is the hope of improving the lives or welfare of others. Political movements, like environmental change and women’s rights, are examples.
You can choose hope. A cancer patient that is told they are metastatic knows their cancer doesn’t have a cure. Instead of falling into a harmful thinking pattern, they can choose to find hope in the most inconsequential things.

Throughout the worst circumstances, you can hold onto your faith that everything will work out in the end. Even if you relapse, all hope is not lost. A medically supervised detox program is the first step to rediscovering your hope.

Hope Is Healthy

Your well-being can strengthen the hold of hope. When you believe in yourself or your goal, you tend to put faith in your ability to achieve your goal. With a positive mindset, you won’t be as hindered by setbacks or challenges like you once were.

The expectation of things working out for the better improves how you think about events in your life. The healthy coping skills learned in substance addiction treatment are the foundation to maintaining motivation and aspirations. Hope is what carries you through dark times and good times.

You can find hope for your future when you choose to take the necessary steps to incorporate it into your life. For those with a substance use disorder (SUD), a medically supervised detox program is a source of hope. Once you commit to your mental and physical health, the staff at Alta Centers will dedicate themselves to helping you reach your goal of sobriety. Our location is perched in the Hollywood Hills, next to the Hollywood sign. We believe this sign is representative of the hopes and dreams people have for brighter futures. Alta Centers knows the decision to enter a substance addiction program is scary; that’s why we support the courage it takes to seek help. Everyone deserves a chance to rediscover themselves and aspire to be better. To improve your well-being, we created an atmosphere of comfort, luxury, and privacy so you can focus on healing. For more information, call us at (888) 202-2583.