"Recovery is the hardest thing you will ever do" Is what someone in recovery will tell you. And the other people will tell you " It's best thing you will ever do" I will tell you now that these are both 100% true.
Recovering from anything requires you to feel emotionally raw and exposed. This is the part that most people dislike. You have to talk about what you are going through and you are going to have to talk about it a lot to therapists, family, and friends. I imagine it feels the way someone with low self esteem would feel like if they were standing in front of all of their school or co-workers completely naked while everyone watched. It's kind of awful AT FIRST.
But when you do it and you talk about what you are going through it is the most epically freeing thing in the entire world. To be able to stand in front of a group of people and tell them I struggle with an eating disorder or depression or addiction or anxiety and not care anymore if they are judging you or if they feel pity for you or if they just honestly don't care is wonderful. To be able to jump all the way in head first without hesitating is amazing. To be able to say this is what is hard for me or this is how I'm getting better is one of my greatest accomplishments. Doing these things allows you to be vulnerable. It gets easier and less awful as you do it and one day without thinking about it you will be able to be vulnerable.
Vulnerability is beautiful it allows you to grow close to the ones you love and more importantly to yourself. You will get to know the real you again to understand the part of you that isn't your disorder or addiction.
So if you ask me how to recover and what recovery is really about I will say it's about being vulnerable, raw and authentic. It is hard but it is freeing and to be free from all things negative is the most wonderfully intense feeling in the world. Vulnerability is being alive, it is being human and you will fall in love with it. You will fall in love with recovery.
Let's do it. Together, today lets be vulnerable.
