For many of us, our uncertainty around the future, our recovery, and our lives in general tends to fill us with fear, worry and trepidation. We feel unsure of ourselves and lacking in confidence and self-assuredness. We feel dread about the future and all its unknowns. We’re consumed by questions and feel angst and anxiety when we don’t have the answers to them. We feel troubled and worried much of the time. We feel overwhelmed and confused any time we aren’t totally certain about things. We desperately want to feel as if we’re in control, because feeling out of control can be so terrifying for us. How can we learn to embrace uncertainty instead of fearing it?
What would it feel like to replace dread with positive anticipation, fear with excitement, and confusion with faith? For most of us, it would feel totally new, very foreign and unfamiliar to us, and possibly uncomfortable. Just like with any new thought pattern we want to establish for ourselves, it will take practice. When we’re faced with uncertainty, we can start to retrain our minds to think differently. What are all the amazing possibilities in store for me in this moment? What might the future hold that is exciting, promising and fulfilling? What miracles and blessings might I manifest today? We can choose to see the future, and our recovery, in a negative light, full of all the things that might go wrong, all the ways in which we might fail, all the mistakes we might make – or we could see it as being full of promise, possibility and potential.
Just as we’ve practiced anticipating the worst for so many years of our lives, we can start practicing anticipating the best. We can affirm to ourselves that we have faith everything will work out in the end. We can build up our faith in ourselves. We can affirm that we are strong and powerful enough to handle anything life throws at us, even if we have no idea what it might be, even if there is nothing but uncertainty, we are resilient and resourceful enough to handle all of it. We can remind ourselves of all the confusing, unsettling, uncertain times we’ve already managed to get through, all of the difficult circumstances and situations we’ve already overcome, all of the challenges we’ve already risen to. We can tell ourselves that it’s impossible to have control over everything and that we’ll be able to enjoy the process of watching our lives unfold so much more if we can relax, relinquish control and literally go with the flow. We can start to embrace uncertainty for all the beautiful things it can hold within it, rather than dwelling on the negative things we fear it might contain.
Riverside Recovery understands all of the emotional challenges of addiction recovery and are here to support you. Call us today for more information: (800) 871-5440.