The Language of Letting Go, July 25

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Old 07-25-2015, 01:27 AM
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The Language of Letting Go, July 25

JULY 25

You are reading from the book "The Language of Letting Go."

Keep at It

Keep practicing your recovery behaviors, even when they feel awkward, even when they haven't quite taken yet, even if you don't get it yet.

Sometimes it takes years for a recovery concept to move from our mind into our heart and soul. We need to work at recovery behaviors with the diligence, effort, and repeated practice we applied to codependent behaviors. We need to force ourselves to do things even when they don't feel natural. We need to tell ourselves we care about ourselves and can take care of ourselves even when we don't believe what we're saying.

We need to do it, and do it, and do it - day after day, year after year.

It is unreasonable to expect this new way of life to sink in overnight. We may have to "act as if" for months, years, before recovery behaviors become ingrained and natural.

Even after years, we may find ourselves, in times of stress or duress, reverting to old ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

We may have layers of feelings we aren't ready to acknowledge until years into our recovery. That's okay! When it's time, we will.

Do not give up! It takes time to get self-love into the core of us. It takes repeated practice. Time and experience. Lessons, lessons, and more lessons.

Then, just when we think we've arrived, we find we have more to learn.

That's the joy of recovery. We get to keep learning and growing all of our life!

Keep on taking care of yourself, no matter what. Keep on plugging away at recovery behaviors, one day at a time. Keep on loving yourself, even when it doesn't feel natural. Act as if for as long as necessary, even if that time period feels longer than necessary.

One day it will happen. You will wake up and find that what you've been struggling with and working so hard at and forcing yourself to do finally feels comfortable. It has hit our soul.

Then you go on to learn something new and better.

Today, I will plug away at my recovery behaviors, even if they don't feel natural. I will force myself to go through the motions even if that feels awkward. I will work at loving myself until I really do.

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Old 07-25-2015, 04:40 AM
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Ann
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One day it will happen. You will wake up and find that what you've been struggling with and working so hard at and forcing yourself to do finally feels comfortable. It has hit our soul.
This reading really touched home with me. I know how hard I struggled in early recovery, working the steps and then trying sooooo hard to make each step work in my life. There were times I felt like throwing in the towel, when I thought it was all a waste of time and I was tired of those around me not "getting" that I was changing....they got it all right, and didn't like it because I was no longer their doormat, their enabler, they didn't know that the word "No" was a sentence in my vocabulary.

But I kept going, I am grateful for a sponsor who worked with me all the way, and today the behaviour and thinking that I learned in the process all come naturally to me and my life is happy and healthy once more.

Keep at it, indeed! It's worth every moment of work. YOU'RE worth it!

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Old 07-25-2015, 04:49 AM
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honeypic great post - thanks for sharing . Helped me realize I have to keep working . To make this life of Sobriety - journey work Beautiful Pic..
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Old 07-25-2015, 09:15 AM
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I often say to myself "fame it till you make it"

I always appreciate these posts Honey pig... Thank you!
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