Many of us living with addictions have a very hard time accepting help. We might be prideful and not want to show our vulnerability by asking for help. We might be afraid that people will judge us as weak, or hold it against us that we needed help. People who we hoped would help us in the past might have let us down or hurt our feelings. Whatever our past experiences or fears tell us about getting help, we can start to believe a new truth – that there are people who genuinely want to help and support us, some of whom we may not have met yet.
Allowing people to help us means letting our guard down. It means allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. It means knowing there is always a risk that we will get hurt, that people will disappoint us or let us down, but that we can’t live our lives in fear. It means choosing to see that we all need help some time, and admitting we need help and accepting help are signs of strength not weakness. Opening ourselves up to people and to their love and support can be scary, but when we do so, it strengthens us. It brings us closer to other people, and closer to the truth of human nature – that we are stronger together.
Being unwilling to accept help is, in a way, a form of blocking our blessings. When we have people who want to help and support us, we are being given a tremendous gift. Turning that gift down can mean we don’t believe in our worthiness. We don’t believe we deserve to receive help. These limiting beliefs stifle our growth and hinder our recovery.
Let’s start to open ourselves up to the idea of letting people help us. Practice asking for help when you need it and receiving it with gratitude when it is offered. This might feel scary. It might make us feel weak, or immature. It might remind us we’re not quite at the place in our lives where we would like to be. Every one of us has received help in some way, at some point in our lives, and where we are is exactly where we are meant to be. Our expectations for ourselves can hold us back when we judge ourselves harshly rather than allowing our life path to unfold naturally. When we have people who want to help us, we can choose to see it as the gift and blessing it is, rather than something to be ashamed of. We can use their support to help us in our recovery, a gift we may one day be able to turn around and offer to someone else.
We’re here to help, with no judgment. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information.