As we’re taking on the process of healing ourselves, one of the things we sometimes overlook is how we feel about ourselves and our recovery, whether or not we’ve lost faith in ourselves, whether or not we still believe in ourselves and our ability to recover. Many of us have very mixed emotions about our recovery. We want to believe we can get well, but we’ve seen time and time again that we haven’t been able to. We’ve experienced the pain, disappointment, shame and regret of relapsing numerous times. We’ve let the people down who believed in us. We feel as though we’ve wasted all the support they’ve given us, all the chances we had to do the right thing, all the opportunities we had to get well. We often have stopped believing in ourselves altogether. We’ve lost hope for the future. We’ve lost faith. We don’t see ourselves being happy, successful or healed. We don’t see ourselves living fulfilling lives. It hurts to be in this place, to feel so defeated we’ve given up on ourselves. In order to heal, we have to shift our perspective and start believing in ourselves again. Otherwise, we’ll always be working against ourselves, impeding our progress and self-sabotaging in one way or another.
Believing in ourselves and our recovery starts with making the conscious choice to practice redirecting our thoughts from self-deprecating ones to empowering ones, so that we can transform our self-perception. We want to shed the limiting beliefs that tell us we’re inadequate, that we’re destined to fail, that we can’t be happy. We want to stop believing we’re not strong enough to heal ourselves. Let’s start being more mindful of our thought patterns, the recurring belief systems we’ve been practicing over time and cementing into our consciousness. What thoughts does your mind default to? Do you instinctively feel bad about yourself and compare yourself to other people? Do you habitually focus on your faults, flaws and shortcomings rather than your skills and strengths? Start telling yourself all the things you’re proud of yourself for, all the things you appreciate about yourself and are grateful for. Think about the things you’re looking forward to in recovery. Remind yourself of all the successes you’ve already had, the goals you’ve set for yourself and then reached, the huge changes you’ve made in your life. Become more self-supporting and self-loving in how you speak to yourself and how you think about yourself. Use affirmations that are uplifting and encouraging. Motivate yourself as you work to heal. Our recovery begins when we truly believe in ourselves.
The community of Riverside Recovery has personal experience with addiction and the feelings of hopelessness and disconnection that come with it. We’re here to help you reclaim the life you love. Call (800) 871-5440 today.