Some days, it feels like you’re dragging. You can’t get it together. You’re tired, you feel like you can’t be productive, you feel as though it takes all of your effort just to go about your day. It seems like you’ve lost your motivation to recover and be better. How did you ever stay sober in the first place? It seems like an impossible feat, even when you have lots of sober days under your belt.

We all have our “off” days. On days that we don’t feel quite right, it might make recovery feel all the more difficult. But it can be important to deal with these feelings—using drugs or alcohol can simply begin with one thought. If you’ve self-medicated in the past yet are actively recovering, those tendencies—to use whenever you’re feeling down and out—can resurge at any moment. Even when you’re sober, addiction is like a monster growing steadily beneath the surface.

• Have you tried creating a sobriety toolkit? It can consist of objects or things that can help you to remember why you’re recovering in the first place.
• Talk to someone. If you’re not in regular communication with a therapist, it might be time to start. Depending on the course of your recovery, there’s a chance you spoke with a behavioral specialist if you were admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation center. Therapists can help you to work through those negative emotions that caused you to use drugs and alcohol before. If you’re dealing with a co-morbid illness (it’s very common to have depression and be an addict), a therapist might be a required part of your recovery plan.
• Talk to a friend. They may not be a therapist, but you’d probably be surprised at how much better it makes you feel to talk to just one person. An outside perspective can better help you to illuminate what’s really going on inside.

No matter your situation, it’s always possible to get your motivation back and stay on the road to recovery.