Language of Letting Go - January 13 - Good Feelings
Nature Girl
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Language of Letting Go - January 13 - Good Feelings
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go
Good Feelings
When we talk about feelings in recovery, we often focus on the troublesome trio - pain, fear, and anger. But there are other feelings available in the emotional realm - happiness, joy, peace, contentment, love, closeness, and excitement.
It's okay to let ourselves feel pleasurable feelings too.
We don't have to worry when we experience good feelings; we don't have to scare ourselves out of them; we don't have to sabotage our happiness. We do that, sometimes, to get to the more familiar, less joyous terrain.
It's okay to feel good. We don't have to analyze, judge, or justify. We don't have to bring ourselves down, or let others bring us down, by injecting negativity.
We can let ourselves feel good.
Today, I will remind myself that it is my right to feel as good as I can. I can have many moments of feeling good; I can find a balanced place of feeling content, peaceful, and good.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Good Feelings
When we talk about feelings in recovery, we often focus on the troublesome trio - pain, fear, and anger. But there are other feelings available in the emotional realm - happiness, joy, peace, contentment, love, closeness, and excitement.
It's okay to let ourselves feel pleasurable feelings too.
We don't have to worry when we experience good feelings; we don't have to scare ourselves out of them; we don't have to sabotage our happiness. We do that, sometimes, to get to the more familiar, less joyous terrain.
It's okay to feel good. We don't have to analyze, judge, or justify. We don't have to bring ourselves down, or let others bring us down, by injecting negativity.
We can let ourselves feel good.
Today, I will remind myself that it is my right to feel as good as I can. I can have many moments of feeling good; I can find a balanced place of feeling content, peaceful, and good.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Feeling fear, sadness and all the bad feelings that go with codependency was what came naturally to me for so many years. If I looked happy, it was only a mask I wore so people could not see how awful I felt and lived.
A wonderful gift of recovery was finding my ability to laugh again, mostly at myself, and finding happiness in every day, no matter what else the day brought me.
I AM happy today, I feel joy and healthy anticipation of what the day will unfold. Today I have a choice...I can feel scared and sad or I can let God handle all that negative stuff and allow myself to feel joyous and free. Just for today I choose joyous and free.
You have choices too, what will you allow yourself to feel today?
Hugs
A wonderful gift of recovery was finding my ability to laugh again, mostly at myself, and finding happiness in every day, no matter what else the day brought me.
I AM happy today, I feel joy and healthy anticipation of what the day will unfold. Today I have a choice...I can feel scared and sad or I can let God handle all that negative stuff and allow myself to feel joyous and free. Just for today I choose joyous and free.
You have choices too, what will you allow yourself to feel today?
Hugs
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Marietta, GA
Posts: 1,453
our brain tricks us and our addicts trick us into thinking that if we loved them we would be miserable just becuase they are.
When my son overdosed it was the night before my daughter and i had big plans. My boss had arranged a private tour at the Georgia Aquarium for her becuase she wants to be a marine biologist. All that night at the hospital she kept looking and me and saying "he's going to ruin this for me." we went home at 2:30 a.m. thinking we could catch 5 hours of sleep and still get there on time. then the hospital called and said i had to come back. I was angry and she was crying becuase she thought it would mean we couldnt go. But I went - i got back home at around 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning.
That one time i was determined to show my daughter that we will not let others affect what we want in life. So at 7:30 i got up - drank a couple of red bulls and we went to the Aquarium. My son was at the hospital all alone when he awoke not even remembering why he was there. We on the otherhand were having a wonderful day. It was a turning point for me detaching becuase i realized that if he wanted to be miserable then he would have to do it alone becuase we had a life to live. We had a great time. When we left he was calling my cell phone begging me to come to the hospital and get him because they were releasing him. We went and got him and i flatly explained that just because he chose to do that didnt mean that we were going to cancel our plans.
When my son overdosed it was the night before my daughter and i had big plans. My boss had arranged a private tour at the Georgia Aquarium for her becuase she wants to be a marine biologist. All that night at the hospital she kept looking and me and saying "he's going to ruin this for me." we went home at 2:30 a.m. thinking we could catch 5 hours of sleep and still get there on time. then the hospital called and said i had to come back. I was angry and she was crying becuase she thought it would mean we couldnt go. But I went - i got back home at around 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning.
That one time i was determined to show my daughter that we will not let others affect what we want in life. So at 7:30 i got up - drank a couple of red bulls and we went to the Aquarium. My son was at the hospital all alone when he awoke not even remembering why he was there. We on the otherhand were having a wonderful day. It was a turning point for me detaching becuase i realized that if he wanted to be miserable then he would have to do it alone becuase we had a life to live. We had a great time. When we left he was calling my cell phone begging me to come to the hospital and get him because they were releasing him. We went and got him and i flatly explained that just because he chose to do that didnt mean that we were going to cancel our plans.
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Join Date: Dec 2008
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Thank you, Ann, for that passage, and thank you Winnie for sharing your story. I'm so glad that you and your daughter did not change your plans! My BF and I have altered our plans so many times lately....your story was great for me to hear!
HG
HG
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