A Quiet Light for the Darkest Moments: Finding Your Way Through Recovery and Despair; September Is National Recovery Awareness and Suicide Prevention Month

A Quiet Light for the Darkest Moments: Finding Your Way Through Recovery and Despair

By AKay September 28, 2025

September is National Recovery Awareness and Suicide Prevention Month

As September draws to a close, it leaves us with the echoes of two of the most important conversations we can have: Recovery Awareness and Suicide Prevention. These are not separate dialogues; they are deeply intertwined, often walking hand-in-hand through the lives of those we love, and perhaps, through our own.

Many who struggle with addiction have also known the crushing weight of suicidal ideations, trauma, depression, anxiety, and profound loss. The journey of addiction is a terrifying place to be. Feeling so lost that intrusive thoughts say the world might feel better without you in it. It can be a tragic and lonely landscape of the heart.

Recovery is Not an Easy Step

A recovery journey is one of the most difficult yet important choices a person can make for their life. Making the conscious choice to begin healing is courageous. But it begins with a terrifying step into the unknown. For many, the familiarity of their current sufferings, however painful, can feel more comfortable than the fear of what comes next.

Anyone who has ever contemplated doing things differently knows this fear. There’s a saying in recovery circles that gets to the heart of it: “The fear of staying the same has to be greater than the fear of change.”

Change Without Fear

But what if we could look at change without fear? What if we redefined it not as a terrifying leap, but as the one constant, guaranteed state of movement in our lives? The seasons change. Our struggles and our gifts change. Our age, our relationships, our very cells are in a constant state of movement. If change is inevitable, perhaps we can learn to flow with it instead of fighting it, embracing it instead of fearing it.

The Starting Point of Gratitude

A place to start, a single point of light in the deepest darkness, is with gratitude.

Even if you are not ready to take the first step into recovery, you can practice gratitude. The smallest seed of it, planted in the darkest moment, can begin to transform your heart and mind. It is free. It is personal. And science now shows it makes significant changes in our hearts nervous system, igniting positive changes in the brain, building resilience, fostering positive neurochemistry, and calming our nervous systems.

When we allow ourselves the grace of gratitude, self-love, and self-compassion, especially while struggling just to survive, we begin to build a foundation. We begin to lay the path back to ourselves.

Enhance Gratitude through Mindful Intentions

Another powerful tool for this journey is Mindfulness-Based Art. Studies show that the intentional actions of combining mindfulness with art literally build new neural pathways and create positive changes in the brain. Through mindful coloring, intentional dance, or simply listening to music, we can begin to redesign our inner world.

The way out of addiction, out of despair, is inward.

It is Never To Late to Heal

Below you will find a toolkit of small, heartfelt practices. They are not a cure, but an offering; a set of quiet, gentle ways to begin building a new foundation within yourself.

5 Heartfelt Gratitude Activities for Your Recovery Journey

1. The Anchor of Recovery: At the end of the day, write down one single moment you are grateful for life. Maybe it was a moment of genuine laughter, the ability to trust yourself, or a moment of sunshine.

2. Thank Your Body: Your body has been through a battle. Place a hand on your heart or stomach and say, “Thank you for healing. Thank you for carrying me through this.” Acknowledge its incredible resilience.

3. The Gift of a Chance at Life: Look in the mirror and make eye contact with yourself. Acknowledge the courage it took to get to this day. Be grateful for the simple, profound gift of a new beginning, right now, in this moment.

4. A Note to Your Support: Think of one person or even animal who has supported you emotionally, even in a small way. Write down what you are grateful for about them. You don’t send it; the act of feeling it is what matters.

5. Notice the Small Pleasures: Addiction and mental health struggles numb our ability to feel simple joy. Make a list of three simple, sensory things you are grateful for today: the taste of coffee, the feeling of a warm shower, the sound of a favorite song.

7 Gentle Gratitude Exercises for When Life Feels Too Heavy

1. The Ground Beneath Your Feet: Stand or sit and feel your feet firmly on the floor. Take a deep breath and place your hand over your heart and allow gratitude for the solid ground holding you up. It is not going anywhere.

2. One Conscious Breath: When thoughts are spiraling, pause. Place a hand on your chest and focus on one single breath entering your lungs and leaving your body. Allow gratitude to warm your heart for that one breath. That’s it.

3. The Comfort of Touch: Wrap yourself in a blanket or hug a pillow. Allow gratitude for the simple, calming sensation of warmth and pressure on your body.

4. Look for One Color: Find one object in the room and focus on its color. Let your eyes rest on it for 10 seconds and allow heartfelt gratitude for the simple existence of that color in the world.

5. A Sip of Water: Pour a glass of water and drink it slowly. Allow your heart to be filled with gratitude for the feeling of it cooling your throat and nourishing your body. It is a fundamental act of self-care.

6. Before You Fall Asleep: As you lay your head down to sleep take 3 deep and intentional breaths, repeat in your mind or outload "my suffering does not define me, I am worthy of life, I am grateful for rest, and I am grateful for life"; offering yourself gratitude, kindness, and grace.

7. Upon Waking: As soon as you can upon waking simply take a deep breath and allow your heart to feel peace in that moment and fill with the gratitude of being able to wake another day.

5 Mindful Art Activities to Build Your Inner World

1. Mindful Coloring: Find a simple coloring page (even a pattern you draw yourself); I have free ones here. Don’t focus on the result. Focus only on the physical sensation of the crayon or pencil on the paper and the sound it makes.

2. Emotional Doodling: Put on a piece of music without lyrics. On a blank page, let your pen or pencil move to the music. Don’t try to draw anything specific; just let the emotions of the music guide your hand.

3. Intentional Dance: Stand up, put on a favorite song, and close your eyes. For one minute, just move your body in whatever way feels good. Stretch, sway, or just shift your weight. The goal is to feel present in your body.

4. Nature’s Sculpture: Go outside and find a few natural objects; a smooth stone, a fallen leaf, a small twig. Arrange them on a surface in a way that feels peaceful to you. Acknowledge the simple beauty you have created.

5. Deep Listening: Put on headphones and listen to a song. Your only intention is to notice one instrument you’ve never paid attention to before. Follow it through the entire song.

10 Affirmations to Reclaim Your Worth

(Repeat these out loud, especially when you don't believe them. The goal is to create new pathways in the brain.)

1. I am worthy of peace.

2. My past does not define me.

3. I am capable of healing and growing.

4. I deserve to feel safe in my own body.

5. It is okay to not be okay.

6. I choose to be kind to myself today.

7. My resilience is greater than my struggle.

8. I am enough, right here, right now.

9. I am walking in gratitude and kindness.

10. I give myself permission to rest and heal.

I hope that each day you awake, you begin to allow yourself gratitude deep within your heart for the breath that enters your lungs and keeps you going. I hope that you begin to love yourself through it all and redefine your worth. Because you are worthy of life, gratitude, kindness, joy, peace, knowledge, laughter, and so much more.

Why This Is a Fight for Your Life

The urgency of this conversation is written in the heartbreaking numbers of our time. In the last year alone, we lost an estimated 109,000 lives to drug overdoses and nearly 50,000 to suicide. These are not separate tragedies; they are deeply intertwined crises born from the same root of human pain and suffering.

Statistics reveal that an individual with a substance use disorder is about six times more likely to attempt suicide, and substances are a factor in up to half of all suicide deaths. The most staggering statistic, however, is the silence: of the nearly 50 million Americans living with an addiction, about 90% are not receiving any form of treatment.

These are not just numbers; they are beautiful lives cut short. They are a call to action. They are the reason why reaching out is an act of courage, and why finding a single, small seed of gratitude on a dark day is not a trivial act; it is a quiet rebellion of the heart, a vital first step on the path back to life.

The Very Real Tragedy of Loss

The tragedy of the unimaginable number of lives lost. It ripples outward, a wave of grief that touches countless others. Research suggests that for every single death by suicide or overdose, well over one hundred family members, friends, children, parents, and partners are left to navigate the devastating aftermath. This means millions of us are walking with tremendous loss in our hearts. This is another reason why we must have more conversations about the small things we can do to reach the millions who are still suffering.

Call For Hope

If you are reading this and feel that you are alone, please hear this: You are not alone. You are worthy of life. And please, please remember that even when it feels like there is no way out, there is always hope. Just as the sun will set and the moon will shine, the heart of a person who has struggled is resilient. A way forward can be forged through the smallest steps of caring for ourselves, gratitude, music, self-care, laugher, tiny beacons of hope. Never, ever give up hope.

Please reach out if you are struggling.

One Love.

Resources for Help & Hope

If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone. Please reach out.

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:

  • Call or Text 988 anytime in the U.S. and Canada. It's free, confidential, and available 24/7.

• SAMHSA National Helpline (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration):

  • Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for free, confidential, 24/7 treatment referral and information for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

• Crisis Text Line:

  • Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the U.S. to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor.