When we are approaching the recovery process, some of us for the first time, others after multiple tries, one of the things we fear most is the struggle we’ll have to endure. We may have already experienced how hard it can be to recover. We may have survived the withdrawal process. We might have felt the sting of defeat when we relapsed. We’re afraid of the pain. We fear the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual challenges that are a part of the struggle. We’re afraid of all the hard work, effort and sacrifice required. Fear is a natural part of the process, and while we may not be able to eliminate it altogether, we can change our perspective in order to help us face our fear and move through it. The idea is to accept that we’re going to experience fear and struggle, but at the same time we’ll keep reaching for our goals. When we look at struggle differently, we can use it as fuel and motivation in our recovery.

We associate struggle with pain, but what if we started to associate it more with the amazing, powerful feelings we get when we’ve successfully moved through the pain? How do we feel? We feel empowered. We feel proud of ourselves. We feel exhausted but happy and relieved. We feel strong and capable. Let’s start to view struggle as the prerequisite to those wonderful feelings of success and triumph. We can see it as a necessary step in our evolution. Our growth process wouldn’t be what it is without struggle. We have so much to learn from it. Every challenge and difficulty manifests tremendous learning and expansion when we’re open to it.

We can start to work with ourselves rather against ourselves in our struggle. We can accept and allow rather than resisting. This means sitting with the difficult emotions and physical sensations when they arise. When we feel afraid or sad, we can accept that these are natural feelings, rather than trying to rush them away, escape them, avoid them or bury them under distractions. Acceptance allows us to move through our feelings of struggle rather than being totally overtaken by them. We can accept that our struggle is going to be challenging, even painful, and this acceptance helps us to be able to cope with it, while resistance often makes our pain have even more control over us. When we open ourselves to our experience, we find that our struggle manifests growth, and we can even look back on it with gratitude.

Our personalized care can help you to believe in yourself again. We believe in your ability to recover, and we are totally committed to helping you get there. Call 888-570-7154 for information about our treatment programs.