People who know me well know that I'm not really much of a "daily affirmations" kind of person. That is, I may take inspiration in someone's wise words, but I don't consciously seek them out as part of my daily routine. (Nothing wrong with doing just that, by the way. I know plenty of folks who find that sort of thing to be a valuable and much-loved part of their day-to-day life, wellness plan, or recovery program.) But since I subscribe to some substance abuse prevention organization lists as part of my work, and because these affirmations do play a part in many recovery approaches, I end up seeing them on occasion even when I'm not looking for them.
There's not a person reading this who hasn't been hurt by someone or something. It's a part of the human condition, and we've all been there at least a few times, right? But for many people -- particularly those prone to addictive behaviors and related illnesses -- well, we may have had more than our fair share of hurts. Heck, it's one of the main reasons we attempt to self-medicate in the first place.
So why do we get so down on ourselves? Why do we allow ourselves that internal narrative that tells us we suck in some fundamental way, or are so flawed that whatever we're trying to do isn't worth the time or effort? Why are we so quick to beat ourselves up, when life itself does such a good job of that for us already?
Why, instead of beating ourselves up for the umpteenth time, can't we just forgive ourselves for whatever it is and move on?
Where the damage is done is when we allow the object of our grudge to continue to damage our own psyche, to suck focus away from more productive, self-nurturing trains of thought. In essence, we're wasting our energy on a lost cause, rather than forgiving and moving on (or not forgiving, and forgiving yourself for that, and moving on anyway).
No.
Maybe it's time to take a good hard look at whatever it is that's still eating away at you, at whatever it is you haven't been able to forgive yourself for, and make a choice to forgive yourself anyway. Perhaps doing so will allow you to make peace with the past, let you love yourself and your choices from here on out, and give you a bit of understanding about why you did what you did, and why you are going to do the things you do from now on.
The fantabulous GUS Team...won't you join us?
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