If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
For many of us, the story of our life experience entails feeling as though we’ve lost ourselves, at one point or another along our journey. We’ve lost ourselves to our addictions and mental illnesses. We’ve lost ourselves to our unhealthy relationships. We’ve lost ourselves to all of the complex and painful situations we find ourselves having to deal with. When we feel lost in this way, we feel totally disconnected from ourselves, from our truth and our purpose. We feel as though we don’t know ourselves. We look in the mirror and don’t recognize ourselves. Sometimes we feel as though our painful experiences and our traumas are happening to someone else. Sometimes we feel like we’re just going through the motions of life, on auto-pilot, just trying to make it through the day. When we’re in this painful place of disconnection, we tend to give up on ourselves. We lose hope that we’ll ever be happy again. We assume we’ll never be able to recover. We struggle with suicidal thoughts and strong urges to end our lives. We feel deeply sad, ashamed and self-hating. We don’t know if we’ll ever be able to find ourselves again and reclaim a sense of identity for ourselves.
When we feel as though we’ve lost ourselves, it can be helpful to remember that losing ourselves is part of the process of finding ourselves again. Sometimes we have to get lost, and give up certain parts of ourselves, and shed certain characteristics and tendencies, in order to rediscover ourselves and truly be happy with ourselves. Our life path is full of twists and turns, highs and lows, successes and missteps. Sometimes the process of learning to love ourselves involves feeling so lost we have to do the work to really figure out who we are. If we felt totally accepting of who we are at all times, and totally comfortable with ourselves, we might grow complacent. We might never feel the pressure to make changes in our lives, changes that are ultimately for the greater good of our growth and development.
We learn by losing our way and then finding it again. We get stronger and more courageous when we’ve lost everything and then been forced to rebuild ourselves from within. Losing ourselves is part of the process of reclaiming ourselves, of loving ourselves, of learning to be true to ourselves.
Are you ready to take the first step on your journey to recovery? Call The Guest House today! 855-483-7800.