Avoiding Shadow Work
Our struggles with addiction have a way of disconnecting us from our inner selves, making us feel lost, confused, aimless and empty. We can feel as though we don’t know who we are, what our purpose is in life, and if we’re ever meant to be happy. Our recovery is a process of deep inner work, of connecting with self, discovering our truths and determining how we want to direct our lives. Our addictions cloud our sense of self, taint our self-image and skew our self-perception. For much of our lives, many of us have based our entire identities around our addictions and mental health issues. Now that we’re recovering, we’re opening ourselves up to parts of ourselves we’re not familiar with, sides of ourselves we’ve never even seen. We’re unearthing all the hidden layers of ourselves and all the unresolved issues within ourselves that we’ve never confronted. We’re uncovering woundedness we’ve always avoided facing. This work can be so confusing and so terrifying that we run from it, and we avoid doing any internal work that might bring us deeper than we feel comfortable going. We avoid doing any shadow work, the work that invites us to work with the parts of ourselves that we might consider to be dark, the difficult, challenging, painful parts that we usually try to hide from.
Wounded Relationship with Self
Getting to know ourselves might feel daunting and scary for those of us who have been avoiding it for so long, but our relationship with ourselves is the most important relationship in our lives, so it’s work we have to do if we want to really heal. When we’re living with a fractured, damaged, wounded relationship with self, we tend to be self-destructive, self-hating and self-harming. Our recovery from addiction and mental illness requires we develop a healthier relationship with ourselves, one that is based on self-love and self-acceptance.
Acceptance vs. Resistance
Many of the parts of ourselves that we have been avoiding facing are the ones that are the hardest for us to accept. They’re the parts that cause us to feel shame, regret, remorse, and disappointment. We feel embarrassed about who we are, the mistakes we’ve made, and the fact that we struggle with addiction and mental illness in the first place. When we feel these emotions, we tend to feel resistance and fear toward them rather than being openhearted and accepting toward them. Our recovery invites us to make a huge energetic shift, from closing ourselves off to our difficult parts, to opening ourselves to them. We can bring this about by actively, consciously, mindfully practicing unconditional self-love and self-acceptance with ourselves, choosing to love and accept all the parts of ourselves, including all the ones we’re troubled by.
The Guest House is a welcoming and supportive recovery home where you will be met with open arms, wherever you are on your journey, without judgment or expectation.
Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.
theguesthouseocala.com
3230 Northeast 55th Avenue Silver Springs, FL 34488