“I am alive because I fight for sobriety. I am present because I am sober. I am worthy of a sober life. Through Jesus Christ, I can heal and have peace.”
A mantra is a motto, saying, or phrase you repeat to yourself to ignite encouragement and focus on your journey to sobriety. Mantras are a form of positive self-talk to change your thought patterns, interrupt intrusive thoughts, and help change your perspective. Mantras can exponentially change your moods and increase willpower in addiction recovery.
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Everyone can benefit from repetitive, daily mantras while overcoming addiction. Here are seven mantras to use in your recovery journey.
1. “I Will Take it One Step at a Time”
One day. One hour. One minute at a time. Looking at recovery as a big picture with a finish line can be overwhelming but looking at it one step at a time can seem less intimidating. This mantra is fundamental in early recovery. Break time down into small moments. Break the process into smaller steps. Don’t look at the 12 steps if it feels daunting. Instead, focus on one step at a time. Tell yourself, “I will not drink or use substances just for this one minute, this one hour, this one day.” Then, repeat it the next day and the next.
2. “God is my Rock”
Through Jesus Christ, all things are possible. Jesus bled from every pore. He took on the sins and sorrows of the world so that we can heal through his atonement. He felt it all. He knows the physical, mental, and emotional anguish you’ve endured. He wants you to turn to Him. Jesus is the only true way to have everlasting peace. Amid your recovery, make it a priority to strengthen your relationship with your Savior and become free from your addictions.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 in the New Testament, it says, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”
3. “Sobriety Gives Me Freedom”
You might feel shackled by your addiction. Feeling free may seem out of reach, but it’s not. Sobriety offers freedom. Intoxication takes that freedom away. It takes over your mind and disables you from living freely, consciously, and authentically. Sobriety allows you to finally have a clear frame of mind and feel an empowering sense of freedom. You don’t have to be at the mercy of substances any longer. Say it to yourself every day: “Sobriety gives me freedom.”
4. “I am Alive and Present in my Life”
Addiction may have taken you to dark and scary places. You may have had times when you didn’t know if you’d wake up the following day. But you did. You made it, and now you’re here to beat it. In recovery, remind yourself that you are alive and that you can be present to live life each day that you wake up sober. This mantra helps remind you of the power within. It reminds you that God kept you here on earth for a reason and not to waste that purpose by continuing down a path of self-destruction. You cannot be present if you are not sober.
5. “I am Capable of Doing Hard Things”
It’s common to feel worthless and defeated in the trenches of substance abuse disorder. Recovery is hard but taking that first step to improve shows incredible strength and willpower. God created you to do hard things. You are capable of change. You can fight the fight and become a new person on the other side. Focusing on your ability to do hard things helps keep you in the mindset needed to focus, fight, and reach lasting sobriety. Henry David Thoreau said, “The past of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.”
6. “This is Worth it”
Whether at an alcohol detox facility or drug rehab, the beginning stages of recovery are the hardest. It may be so hard that you start to convince yourself it’s not worth it. Don’t let your intrusive thoughts win. Don’t let your negative self-talk overpower your positive daily mantras. Make it a priority to repeat “This is worth it” several times daily. You are stronger than you realize.
Sobriety will be even better than you imagine. Often in life, you have to jump into “the river of misery” to obtain a goal. This means entering a really difficult chapter that requires immense mental work. Sometimes growing and changing require temporary miserable moments. Once you reach your goal, the misery is in your rearview mirror. Tell yourself that you only have to swim in it briefly. Remind yourself that “this too shall pass.”
Edwin Markham said, “Ah, great it is to believe the dream as we stand in youth by the starry stream; but a greater thing is to fight life through and say at the end, the dream is true!”
7. “I am never alone”
Recovery can feel lonely. You may feel as if nobody understands what you’re going through. In 2022, 48.7 million people aged 12 or older had a substance abuse disorder in the past year. You are not alone.
Many people have had the same struggles as you. Many have felt the same feelings as you, and many will in the future. Once in the same position as you, many people put in hard work and successfully became sober. If they can, so can you. Think about your support system. You’ll never be alone in your journey at our LDS Drug Treatment Centers in Utah.
Mantras can be a powerful tool in addiction recovery. You can use the mantras above or create your own daily mantras to trigger encouragement on your journey to a happier, healthier life of sobriety and freedom.
“Each temptation we overcome is to strengthen us, not destroy us. The Lord will never allow us to suffer beyond what we can endure.” -Robert D. Hales.