In my experience, healing does not progress in a linear fashion. You might make big leaps in your recovery one week, only to feel like you are regressing the next week.
Healing is more like a marathon than a sprint.
Acknowledge Setbacks
Developing stamina is an essential aspect of the journey. How do you deal with setbacks when they happen? How do you handle feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness? When setbacks no longer set you back, life gets easier. Notice and feel your feelings of wanting to give up without taking on their viewpoint.
Hopelessness might say: “You will never heal, this isn’t working. You should give up already!”
Powerlessness might whisper: “You can’t do this, you’re not strong enough!”
Notice how these states feel in your body and breathe into them without believing their messages.
Be Curious About Your Feelings
These feelings often go way back to our childhood years when we actually felt hopeless and powerless. Take this moment as an opportunity to be aware of the wounded child in you and connect with them.
As you stay with this part of you, you might remember the situations in which you felt like giving up as a child. These were moments that overwhelmed you and moments when you felt trapped or stuck with no power to change the outcome of what was happening.
What was going on back then in your life? What was happening at your home and between your parents? Do you remember being bullied? Was school extra difficult? Did someone die and you didn’t know how to deal with that?
The more you become aware of where these feelings originate from in you, the more skillfully you can handle moments in which you feel extra vulnerable and down. Remember to take care of the wounded child in you. Protect them by taking care of yourself.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back is Still a Step Forward
As you gain momentum in your healing and recovery, setbacks won’t seem much like setbacks but opportunities to dive in further and deepen your experience of living.
Being a part of a like-minded community can also help you stay on your path. Motivating others and receiving their support, we connect with a sense of belonging and togetherness. Make sure you are not alienating yourself from loved ones.
Every moment can help you increase your awareness of yourself and what works for you. When we are open to our feelings of helplessness and powerlessness, we find pain ready to be seen, felt, and worked through. We find healing, growth, healthy hope, and groundedness.
Keep coming back to your body when you feel down. Keep breathing into these heavy feelings and seek professional support to help you explore them more deeply.
There is faith and trust in opening to our feelings of hopelessness and great power in exploring our powerlessness. As we deepen this exploration, we find what’s more real than hope and we get in touch with our true power and sense of confidence. Don’t miss this opportunity.
At Sunshine Coast Health Centre and Georgia Strait Women’s Clinic, we support individuals through an evidence-based holistic approach that focuses on all aspects of individuals’ healing. If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction or mental health, give us a call today.
