05/20/2025
Letting go...
For those of us that work in the field of substance abuse and for those of us that are in recovery, we understand the importance of not living in our past. We have all done and said things that we regret and wish we could take back. Unfortunately, some things can not and will never be rectified. We burn bridges and we feel the brunt of the harm we have caused others. However, we don't need anyone to beat us up because we already do a good job of that ourselves. The worst prison is the one we live in, in our own minds.
Living in our past keeps us locked in resentment, angry in the present and full of fear of the future. This doesn't just go for the client's we serve but also for ourselves. Perhaps if we encouraged one another and showed compassion to those embarking on this newly found way of life on the journey of recovery it would give those an incentive to strive to become even better human beings. After all, we are all only human.
There's nothing worse than trying to break free from the horrors of active addiction than to break free the bo***ge we live in our own skin to fight the demons in our head of the things we did wrong. Moreso, it's even more difficult when others don't let us off the hook. The reality is, some will and some won't. We must learn to practice acceptance not to stay stagnant and complacent.
I think we could all agree that noone needs unconditional love more than a suffering addict. It's not just about the use of drugs. It's about a life changing experience of learning how to become a productive member of society, a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a husband, wife, a friend or perhaps just a good human being. If we could all just believe that each one of us are trying to do the best we can with what we have and what we know.
Recovery doesn't happen over night. It is a process and for some us it takes longer than others. In the end, I am sure we have all served our time in one way or another. There are lessons to be learned but serving a life sentence due to the destruction caused by our addiction doesn't have to be a life sentence.
So let's lift eachother up instead of tearing one another down. I always use to say, how high does it make you feel to make others feel so low. Perhaps the core issue really lies within you.
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