Even on the best days, chastising ourselves and second-guessing our decisions is easy. So, when you’re recovering from addiction, it’s understandable that you may have bouts of self-doubt and negativity.

Whether you’re in a clinical setting, like those at Riverside detox facilities, or you’re back in the “real world” and struggling with your mindset, it’s easy to slide into negative self-talk. But letting yourself wallow in those lies, no matter how true they seem to you, can be an extremely slippery slope back into your addictive behaviors.

When those feelings kick in, you must kick them out. One way many experts, including those who have been on the recovering from addiction end themselves, suggest is to learn and recite positive affirmations. Here, we’ll give you 10 affirmations and discuss how these phrases work.

The Power of Affirmations

No, they aren’t “woo-woo” tricks. They actually fall more in the realm of science.

How? Well, think about how hard it was to understand the basics of math, from addition to division, when you were first learning them. The more you practiced and repeated the steps, the easier that type of thinking became because you built neural pathways in your brain that stay there.

Over time and with enough repetition, you can teach yourself almost anything. Unfortunately, what most of us learn is how to talk negatively to ourselves.

By using positive affirmations, you repave those old, unhelpful neural pathways (the roads leading to obsolete and unwanted destinations) and replace them with new, healthier paths!

In fact, many extremely famous people attribute affirmations to their success. Maybe you’ve heard of a few of these:

● Jennifer Lopez focuses for at least 15 minutes a day on affirmations of worthiness.

● Jim Carrey’s positive, repetitive assurances kept his mindset so focused on success that he made it exactly where he wanted to be.

● Oprah Winfrey publicly says she doesn’t believe she’d be where she is without affirmations.

When you’re recovering from addiction, you don’t necessarily need affirmations that propel you to success. Instead, positive affirmations that remind you of your value to others and yourself and reshape those negative thoughts into positive ones might be enough to push you past those moments of despair.

Yes, moments. Remember, however short or long your period of negativity is, it is made up of moments, and you only need to get past one moment at a time. Write these ten affirmations on your bathroom mirror, hang them on your fridge, or put them anywhere you’ll see them when you may need them most.

1. Even the baby steps I take are moving me to a better life.

2. I am not my past mistakes, and I forgive myself for making them.

3. I trust myself to make better choices to create a better future.

4. I deserve to feel valued, worthy, and accepted.

5. I don’t need anything else to be happy but what is within myself.

6. My mistakes can help me to grow, but they can’t stop me from moving forward.

7. My struggle with addiction does not make me less worthy or valuable.

8. I am at peace right now with all that is within me.

9. I respect myself and have the strength to be successful in my recovery.

10. I am brave, courageous, and determined to overcome my addiction.

If any of these affirmations resonate with you more than another, write it down in as many places as you can. Repeat it regularly so that it builds that neural pathway in your brain that teaches your mind to believe what you’re saying. Whether you feel like it or not, say it. In fact, when you don’t feel like it, you should say it more!