As we’re working to recover from our addictions, and as we’re learning more about all the different elements of addiction and mental illness, it can serve us tremendously to learn from people’s real-life experiences and to witness their growth firsthand. Oftentimes the things we read about and learn intellectually can’t impact and motivate us in the same powerful ways that hearing people’s personal experiences can. We’re able to put faces and names with meaningful stories. We’re able to receive wisdom and guidance. We’re able to be inspired, uplifted and encouraged, especially when we’re feeling disheartened and disempowered because of our own traumatic struggles with addiction.
Sharing our stories can be hard for all of us. We’re afraid of what people will think of us if we’re honest about our experiences. We fear being judged, shunned and rejected. When we do muster the courage to share our stories, though, we’re giving ourselves a powerful gift. We’re showing ourselves how strong, brave and resilient we truly are. We’re showing ourselves firsthand that we were able to move through our pain and come out on the other side, stronger, more capable and more empowered.
When we share our stories with other people, they benefit from the immense wisdom that can only come from personal experience. We learn so much from being connected to other people who can validate our experiences and relate to us, who can empathize with us and understand the things we’ve been through. We’re often left feeling isolated, lonely and alone when we feel as though we have to go through our struggles with addiction, mental illness and recovery all on our own. Hearing people’s real-life experiences reminds us we’re not alone. We’re actually surrounded by people who love and support us, and the more we open up to sharing our experiences and hearing other people’s, the more connected and supported we become.
Our education on addiction recovery is most complete and thorough when we incorporate learning directly from people and their real-life personal experiences. If we try to learn about addiction simply from an intellectual or academic standpoint, we miss out on all the deep, transformative stories and all the beneficial wisdom and experience that can help us grow and expand ourselves in our own recovery.
At The Guest House Ocala, our recovery programs include many experiential modalities including traditional therapy, conscious connected breathwork, equine therapy, somatic experiencing, art in healing, grief therapy, mindfulness and other forms of therapy. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.