When approaching recovery, we’re often still lacking the very important self-belief required to really heal. We’re filled with self-doubt, anxiety and insecurity. We feel worry and trepidation when undertaking the recovery journey, rather than confidence and faith. Our capacity for healing and transformation is directly proportional to how much we believe in ourselves. If we don’t believe we can heal, we won’t be able to. We might consciously want to get better but continue to be subconsciously self-defeating, self-sabotaging and self-destructive along the way, inhibiting us from actually recovering. We’ll continue to suffer from the low self-esteem that feeds our addictions and mental illnesses. We’ll remain plagued by the feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy that make us feel so bad about ourselves, that drive us to our addictions as a form of escape.
Where did we learn to reject ourselves and to stop believing in ourselves? For many of us, it comes down to familial and societal programming that tells us we’re not good enough as we are, that we should constantly strive to improve upon ourselves. We’re taught that our emotions, our ways of thinking, our natural ways of being in the world make us inadequate and inferior to other people. For others of us, we’ve internalized our trauma as evidence of our unworthiness. We blame ourselves for the bad things that have happened to us, and we’ve carried our guilt and shame for years after the initial trauma. We take our trauma to mean we are shameful, immoral, bad people. We feel disappointed in ourselves, even when we have no reason to. We stop believing in ourselves as a result, keeping ourselves limited, contained, and small. We’re afraid to push ourselves, to risk failure, to step out of our comfort zones. We never know what it’s like to believe in ourselves enough to take risks and enjoy the immense rewards that come from stretching and expanding ourselves. We never feel what it’s like to grow, to transform, and to live up to our potential. We continue on the same way we’ve been going, being brought down by the same internal issues that have been driving us and compounding our pain.
Believing in ourselves is a process and a practice. To get better at it, we have to practice it and regularly apply our focus, attention, time and energy. An important first step is learning to monitor our internal dialogue so that we can be more mindful of how we’re thinking and speaking about ourselves. We want to replace any disparaging commentary with uplifting and supportive self-talk. We want to remind ourselves to focus on our strengths, our gifts, talents and accomplishments. We want to encourage ourselves to be as kind to ourselves as we possibly can, giving ourselves the support and unconditional love we’ve been denying ourselves for far too long. The more we work to believe in ourselves, the more we empower ourselves to heal and the more likely we are to make a full, lasting recovery.
Are you ready to take the first step on your journey to recovery? Call The Guest House today! 855-483-7800.