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Who Answers?4 Ways Step 10 NA Can Help You Stay on Course
Step 10 – “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
In its entirety, the 12 Step program walks you through the growth stages involved with building a drug-free existence. By the time a person reaches Step 10 NA, much of the hard work is done.
From here on out, maintaining the practices and skills developed in previous steps becomes the primary task at hand. For this reason, Steps 10, 11 and 12 are known as the maintenance steps of the program.
Not surprisingly, Step 10 NA incorporates many of the key principles and practices from previous steps for living a clean and sober lifestyle.
Are you considering 12 Step treatment, or need help finding a program? Call our toll-free helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) for assistance.
Here are four ways Step 10 NA helps you stay on course in recovery.
4 Ways Step 10 NA Helps You Maintain a Drug-Free Life
Practicing mindfulness can help you combat old thought patterns.
1. Self-Monitoring
Over time, addiction recovery becomes a way of life where the principles of the 12 Step approach form the basis for healthy, drug-free living. According to Mayo Clinic, maintaining an ongoing awareness of your thoughts, motivations and intentions enables you to avoid problems along the way.
Step 10 NA works as a continuation of Steps 4 and 5 in terms of keeping an ongoing moral inventory and quickly making amends to people you’ve wronged. In the process, a person continues to grow in understanding while making a worthwhile impact on his or her life as well as in the lives of others.
2. Staying Connected to Self
Conflicts with coworkers, friends and family can bring up difficult memories or emotions that can compromise your recovery efforts. Likewise, stress or even a cold or flu can weaken your defenses.
For these reasons, it’s important to get into the habit of staying in touch with your thoughts and emotional states to prevent the seeds of negativity from triggering drug-using urges.
3. Keeping an Open Heart and Mind
At this point in the recovery process, a person well knows how quickly negative attitudes can sabotage his or her well-being. According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, getting caught up in the blame game or trying to justify hard feelings towards another person can quickly lead to a relapse episode.
With Step 10 NA, keeping an open heart and mind offers the best defense for managing difficult circumstances. While it may not feel comfortable, maintaining a humble attitude can keep you from getting caught up in destructive thoughts and emotions.
4. Keeping a Clean Slate
Keeping a clean slate means dealing with difficult situations promptly by taking responsibility for any part you may have played in causing a problem.
A prideful attitude can crop up when least expected, which makes it all the more difficult to see a problem objectively. Rather than letting things build up to a boiling point, keeping a clean slate along the way helps you maintain the ability to be honest with yourself, which is essential to your recovery success.
If you’re considering getting needed treatment help and don’t know where to turn, please don’t hesitate to call our helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) .