If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Some of the defining characteristics of addiction are our tendencies to engage in reckless and risky behaviors, to endanger ourselves and put ourselves in harm’s way, and to fail to see the consequences of our choices and actions. We act without thinking. We don’t take accountability for our mistakes. We do things we regret, we tell ourselves we’ll stop, but then we compulsively repeat them over and over again. Part of the addiction recovery process is working to have a better understanding of why we resort to these risky behaviors in the first place.
Our subconscious mind holds all of the emotional information, memories and programming that have accumulated from years of life experience. Our subconscious governs the majority of our daily lives, our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. We develop beliefs based on the contents of our subconscious minds, and because so many of us have been deeply traumatized, these beliefs tend to be negative and limiting in nature. We’re deeply insecure. We believe we’re not good enough. We believe we don’t deserve happiness. We believe our lives are worthless and meaningless. Our instincts for self-protection and self-preservation can become totally corrupted. We stop taking measures to keep ourselves safe. We hurt ourselves mentally, emotionally and physically. We self-harm and contemplate suicide. We don’t value our lives or believe in our self-worth. We become self-rejecting, self-hating and completely disconnected from our inner selves and our truth.
Consciously we might want to love ourselves and recover from our addictions and mental health issues, but subconsciously we can’t help but be self-destructive. This is why it’s so important to reprogram our subconscious minds in order to stop ourselves from engaging in endlessly compulsive, risky and dangerous behaviors. We want to affirm to ourselves that we are in fact worthy of loving and caring for ourselves, that we deserve our protection, that we deserve to prioritize our safety and well-being. We want to validate, uplift and encourage ourselves rather than being self-hating and self-deprecating. We want to give ourselves the gifts of our own self-love, self-acceptance, compassion and understanding.
Our risky behaviors can be perplexing. We can feel as though we’re driven to them compulsively, and like our instincts are totally out of our control. When our behaviors go against what we consciously know to be good for us, we can look to our subconscious minds to understand why we’re so self-destructive and why we endanger ourselves in such alarming ways.
The Guest House is a welcoming and supportive recovery home where you will be met with open arms, wherever where you are on your journey, without judgment or expectation. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.