If people can change their attitude towards problems it can help them enormously.

Rather than viewing challenges as some type of punishment they can instead see it as an opportunity to grow. It is unfortunate, but humans tend to learn very little when times are good. It is only through experiencing pain that they can really reach their potential. If people view challenges more positively it will increase their ability to deal with them. It is vital that the individual makes an effort to face life and does not try to hide from discomfort. Even when people become sober they can continue their attempts to escape reality. They may substitute addictions by becoming obsessed with work or even exercise. Serenity can only be achieved if people are committed fully to sobriety. This means facing life on life’s terms. The main reason for why people experience long-term unhappiness in recovery is that they become stuck. They are faced with a challenge and for some reason they feel unable to get past it. They then try to ignore the problem, but this only leads to further pain. Things can become so bad that the individual returns to their alcohol or drug addiction. If people are experiencing too much discomfort in recovery they need to establish the cause and rectify the situation. Many people find that the 12 Step program is an effective path to serenity. It does provide a framework for sobriety and many people do claim to have achieved serenity by following this path. The 12 Steps is not a program that appeals to everyone; many object to the religious undertones. It is certainly something that is worth considering. Travelling the road to serenity as part of a fellowship can be a highly rewarding experience. Dogmatism can hinder people from achieving serenity. This occurs when people become so caught up in a set of beliefs that they hinder their personal development. It is vital that people keep an open mind if they want to escape the tyranny of their emotions. Sometimes the most helpful advice and guidance will come from the most unlikely sources; people will miss this if they are too dogmatic. Having realistic expectations is another key element of achieving sobriety. When people first become sober they will experience significant changes in their life. After a few months the pace of change slows down, and there can be long periods where there seems to be no improvement at all. It can take many years before the individual develops a high degree of serenity. If they expect too much too soon they will only end up feeling disappointed. It can be helpful if people keep a spiritual journal. This is where they can chart their progress and record any new discoveries along the way. Putting things on paper (or on a computer screen) makes them clearer. It also makes it easier to spot changes that would have otherwise been missed.