Each of us has a unique story, full of the lessons we’ve learned, challenges we’ve faced and experiences we’ve had. Sometimes when we’ve struggled with addictions, we have a very hard time looking back at our life story. We are overcome with embarrassment, shame and disappointment with ourselves. We carry so much remorse and regret that when we look back at our story, we feel consumed with sadness, frustration and anger. Is it possible to accept and even appreciate our story, including the story of our addictions?
The recovery process is as much about self-love, self-forgiveness and self-acceptance as it is learning to abstain from our addictive behaviors. As we heal, we start to see our stories as part of the journey we were meant to take. We see our recovery as a sign of our strength, and our addictions as part of the process that brought us to that place of healing and empowerment.
We develop limiting beliefs about ourselves and our addictions that contribute to our feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness and self-hate. For example, we believe that we are shameful people, that our addictions are a source of shame, and that we should be ashamed of ourselves. We can choose to start seeing ourselves and our addictions in a different light – a light of love, compassion and understanding. We can choose to see that our addictions are often a manifestation of our inner pain, and that our suffering drove us to our addictive behaviors. We can choose to understand our pain and work to forgive ourselves. We can choose to accept all of who we are, including the painful parts. We can choose to embrace unconditional self-love.
In looking at ourselves and our addictions differently, we can allow our stories to start taking on a different shape. Where our stories once felt ugly, wrong, bad or shameful, we can start to see that our stories hold powerful lessons and stories of healing. There is beauty in our pain. There is a light in our struggle – the inner light within us that is pushing us towards healing. We are beautiful. We are manifestations of our higher power. We are survivors. When we start to see the truth in ourselves, we can embrace our stories as being the beautiful, complex journeys we were destined to travel, that brought us to happiness and fulfillment in recovery.
We have personal experience with recovery, and we understand. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information on how we can help you.