Sacrificing Relationships for Our Recovery
Of all the things we have to give up in order to recover, we can find that the relationships we have to sacrifice are the hardest to come to terms with. Our relationships mean so much to us. They provide us with companionship and emotional support. They provide us with a sense of security, safety, and stability. They make us feel less alone. They help us to feel understood, heard and appreciated. They allow us to feel loved when everything else in our lives is falling apart. They can function as a lighthouse in our darkest times. When we’re living with addiction, though, our relationships are often a major contributor to stress, anxiety, and mental health issues. We form partnerships that enable and perpetuate our addictions.
Many of us will have to sacrifice the relationships that were important to us for the sake of our recovery. We tend to attract and choose partners and friends who mirror our issues back to us, even when we’re not conscious of it. We are often involved, therefore, with other persons with addiction, people who themselves aren’t ready to do the work they need to do to recover. Until they too reach a place where they’re ready to prioritize their well-being, we may need to separate ourselves from them so that we don’t continue to enable each other and bring each other down. We’ll need to sacrifice the comfort and companionship we received from them, prioritizing our genuine wellness over the temporary distraction of affection and attention.
Getting Through Letting Go
To make this particularly difficult sacrifice easier on ourselves emotionally, we’ll want to change our perspective on self and relationships. We’ll want to improve our self-esteem by doing “esteem-able” acts. When we start to value ourselves more, we begin to realize that toxic relationships cause additional pain, a pain we don’t deserve to have to live with. We begin to feel that these people are not worth the distress they’ve been causing us, even though we might have loved them very much. We learn to prioritize our own mental health, our peace of mind, and our happiness. We prioritize ourselves over those who are detracting from our well-being and making our lives more difficult than they already are. We no longer want to give energy to anything or anyone that contributes to dis-ease, and instead invest in solution-oriented relationships. Sacrificing our unhealthy relationships for the sake of our recovery may seem difficult, but with time we will find that we’ve found a peace and happiness worth infinitely more.
Origins Behavioral Healthcare is a well-known care provider offering a range of treatment programs targeting the recovery from substance abuse, mental health issues, and beyond. Our primary mission is to provide a clear path to a life of healing and restoration. We offer renowned clinical care for addiction and have the compassion and professional expertise to guide you toward lasting sobriety.
For information on our programs,
call us today: 561-841-1296
