Reclaiming your Life : Recovery

Recovery is not easy and it can feel at times like a war in your mind.  

There’s hundreds of thousands of cells in your body. They fought to keep you alive since the day you were born. You survived 100% of everything you've been through so far. You made it. Let's keep going shall we?

The maladaptive behaviours you engage in might be a way to numb your pain and deal with everything going on in your life, but in the long-term it does so much damage compared to the brief relief it gives you. Can you find alternative ways to build your capacity to tolerate distress instead of relying on avoidance strategies?

Recovery is a process. You will need support. You will need to work on your self-confidence, to learn to trust yourself and your ability to overcome this. It is full of small steps where people slowly regain control over their life. You will need to take responsibility over your actions, but do not blame yourself. We do our best with what we have at the moment, we are all trying to adapt. Sets back will happen but you will have to persist, and relapse might be a part of your journey. It can happen at any time throughout any stage of life. It doesn’t mean you are "failing". You are growing, learning and healing. You are becoming more resilient. Feeling uncertain or ambivalent about change is normal. For many people, the biggest step towards recovery is deciding to reach out for help and make that change. You should be proud of yourself if you made it this far. 

In recovery, identifying your triggers is a crucial element so you can better prepare ahead and evaluate your options on how to deal in the best way possible with the situation at hand. You need to be able to see the pothole and avoid it, not just run into it time after time. Recovery is a choice. You have to choose it time after time, it doesn't just happen by magic, and others can’t make that decision. It will take patience and effort.

You’re strong enough, you always were. 

You’re not alone. You can do this.