Recovering from anything can seem impossible, especially because 'recovery' is made to seem like a tropical destination when it definitely isn't. Recovery isn't somewhere you can buy a plane ticket to and travel to in a few hours. Recovery is very much a lifelong battle, no matter what it is you're trying to overcome.
Recovery is a choice we have to actively make every morning when we wake up. It's something we have to continuously decide that we want. It's something we have to choose at multiple times throughout the day when faced with obstacles that could potentially trigger unwanted feelings or cause past behaviours to resurface.
Whatever it is you're in recovery from, no matter how big or small it seems, recovery is always the right choice. It doesn't always feel that way, of course, most of the time recovery isn't something we want to choose, despite knowing we have to. So, for those moments when recovery feels pointless, allow me to provide you with a list of 20 reasons why recovery is always a better option than moving backwards and remaining in a situation that is causing unnecessary harm that you do not deserve. The list of reasons why you should choose recovery and see life through to the very end is never-ending, but these are just a handful of important ones.

1. To experience the many beautiful places you have not visited. To gaze up at their iconic landmarks in awe, to sample the food delicacies, to revel in the culture and to have conversations with people you would have never normally met in a language you probably can’t speak.
2. To learn something new every day, whether that’s a cool recipe, how to play a musical instrument, weird facts about the universe or simply new ways of showing yourself the unconditional love you so willingly give to others yet struggle to shower yourself with.
3. To listen to new music that makes you feel so lost yet so alive at the same time, songs that resonate so deeply with you it’s as if the lyrics were plucked from the very depths of your soul. Also, to experience this music being played live at concerts where you can scream every line from the top of your lungs without a care in the world.
4. To say goodbye and hello to seasons. To be fed up with the cold at the end of winter and to welcome in the fresh flowers, warm breeze and baby animals of spring. To be ready for the season of new beginnings to cease so you can bask in the hot sunshine of summer in lightweight clothing and eating ice cream to your heart’s content. To be tired of the sweltering heat and ready for the crisp leaves and woolly jumpers of autumn. To be excited for the end of autumn so you can prep for the Christmas season and all the log fires, hot chocolates and snowball fights that come with it.
5. To create memories with old and new friends. To laugh so hard that tears spill down your cheeks, to have someone whip out a classic one liner that causes you to spit your drink out as bubbles come out of your nose, to smile until your face is sore and create new inside jokes that you won’t remember the origin of in twenty years’ time but will still howl every time you hear them as though they’re being made for the first time.
6. To celebrate milestone birthdays and to blow out the candles on your cake with an army of loved ones by your side as you absorb their adoration for you whilst feeling proud of all you’ve done in the past year and, simultaneously, excited for the unpredictable moments that await you in the next 12 months.
7. To feel proud of every single life achievement, both big and small. Whether that’s getting out of bed in the morning and opening your curtains, completing a skydive or getting a degree, all achievements are personal and worthy of commemoration.
8. To listen to the stories of family members and dear friends, stories about events that shaped them as people, made them happy, sad or merely touched them for a single second. Whether that’s a story from a grandparent who fought in the war, a parent who had a stressful day at work or even just an old friend who just had to call you up to tell you who they bumped into at the supermarket this afternoon.
9. To flick through dusty photo albums and reminisce, pointing to people you don’t recognise and asking, “Who’s that?” whilst chuckling at the questionable outfits you wore in your younger days, thinking they were the height of fashion.
10. To dream big and to never feel as though your ability to dream is limited by your identity or things you have experienced. To have sleepless nights where you lay awake wondering what the future holds and to sit staring at the moon and stars on a chilly night as, inside your head, you shape a crazy life for yourself that may never come into fruition but, hey, you just never know.
11. To interact with animals, to play with them, stroke them, feed them and experience happy moments with them. Whether that's a pet, the dog of a stranger you get chatting to on the street, the bunny rabbits in a pet store, animals in zoos or on safari, animals are such precious bundles of life and they make the world so much more exciting. 
12. To experience all the advances in technology that are yet to be made, whether that's via phones or laptops or genuine robots and flying cars, the possibilities are endless when it comes to what technology can do and we can never know what it's capable of. The world's first time travelling machine could be on the way and there's only one way for you to find out if it'll work. 
13. To refresh your social media feeds either first thing in the morning, last thing at night or out of boredom in the middle of the afternoon, and laugh at stupid memes, feel your heart turn soft at videos of cats sleeping or find a story from a stranger that you relate to so much you just have to share it on. With social media evolving every day and with new and exciting viral posts storming the internet just as quickly, surely you've got to stick around to keep up.
14. To take many, many photographs, both good, bad and so blurry they weren't worth taking. Cute polaroids and perfectly lit, staged snaps as well as messy candids and questionable shots in which one person's eyes are closed, another has a double chin, one isn't looking at the camera and another is almost falling over. To take these photos and cherish them forever as they so perfectly captured a moment and all the feelings that came with it.
15. To watch new movies that you love. To watch romantic comedies that make your heart explode with love and longing for a perfect fairytale of your own. To watch comedies that make you howl with laughter and give you iconic jokes that you repeat for years to come. To watch horrors and thrillers that have you terrified and hanging on the edge of your seat but also secretly excited and with a feeling of crazy adrenaline soaring through your body. To watch incredible sci-fi films with mind-blowing special effects that look so real they leave you questioning how they were created.
16. To sleep in a freshly changed bed and to experience the comfort and warmth of clean sheets and pillows which provide you with a safety net that captures all your dreams as you doze off into the deepest, most relaxing sleep of your life.
17. To vote in elections and to make a change in how the world works. To voice your opinions on social issues and important matters and to bring about positive changes by campaigning for what is right. All votes matter, as do the lives of each person a vote belongs to.
18. To read new books so good you just can't put them down, real page-turners that you delve into one late morning before letting time run away with you until you suddenly look up, so close to the final chapter, and realise it has turned dark outside.
19. To experience the kindness of strangers in public spaces, random acts of kindness that require very little effort most of the time but which still add so much value to the world because they have the potential to make someone's day. Whether that's someone smiling at you on a train, holding a door open for you, a shop worker letting you off with that 10p you can't find in the bottom of your purse, that cafe worker giving you an extra marshmallow with your hot chocolate or that person offering to help you carry your heavy shopping bags.
20. To inspire countless other people with your strength, tenacity, bravery, kind heart and powerful mind. To have people look at you and think, wow, I want to be like them. To have people simply in awe of the way you continuously conquer every one of life's hurdles and to still be just as in awe of you when you fall down instead of conquering the hurdles because you pick yourself back up with such determination. To be a light source to the whole of humanity and continue to bring happiness and inspiration to everyone around you.