A common misconception about addiction is that it is based on a lack of self-control and that addicts are lacking in willpower and the ability to control themselves and their behavior. While it’s true the recovery process helps us increase our willpower, resilience, and self-control, they are not the only factors contributing to our dependence issues. Our addictive patterns are fueled by a multitude of causes that can be mental, emotional, physical and spiritual in nature. The various elements of our addictions are interrelated and interconnected, and a lack of self-control can actually be a symptom of deeper underlying issues. How is achieving sobriety about more than just having self-control?
For many of us who identify as addicts, we have spent years of our lives desperately wishing we could stop our addictive behaviors but feeling incapable of doing so. We feel we’re not in control of our bodies, our minds, our judgment, and our decision-making. We know that we should seek help but we’re afraid to. We have become all too familiar with how powerless we feel when we’re not in control of ourselves and our lives. What we often don’t understand is that there are many more factors at play that are working in tandem with our inability to control ourselves, and can impact whether or not we can, in fact, control ourselves. One of these factors is the existence of the damaging, self-destructive limiting beliefs we’ve stored in our subconscious minds that we’re constantly perpetuating and playing out in our daily lives.
A highly common limiting belief many of us share is that we aren’t strong enough to control ourselves in the face of our addictive urges. We’ve come to believe that we’re too weak to withstand the temptation of our addictions. In other words, we’ve been telling ourselves all along that we don’t have self-control. When we believe we lack self-control, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and we begin to struggle with self-control and have issues around personal autonomy. Over time, the more convinced we become that we’re weak and powerless, the less able we are to exert self-control in moments of crisis. We practice thinking, feeling and behaving in these ways, and they become our truth.
Achieving sobriety is about more than willing ourselves not to return to our drug of choice. It’s about more than pushing ourselves, challenging ourselves or testing ourselves to see how much control we in fact have. It’s about reprogramming our subconscious mind to believe we are stronger and more powerful than our addictions and mental health issues. It’s about convincing ourselves of a new truth, that our addictions don’t have to overpower us or get the better of us any longer. It’s about practicing and instilling new beliefs within ourselves, believing in our capacity for healing and transformation, believing in ourselves and having faith in our inner strength and in our ability to make healthy choices and to do what’s best for ourselves.
At The Guest House Ocala, we have personal recovery experience and over 12 years in the recovery industry. We have helped countless people recover, and we’re here to help you too. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.