Believing in yourself is critical to your success in recovery. If you practice belittling yourself, relapse is more likely to occur. The time has come for you to stop beating yourself up and begin to focus on your positive attributes and what you have to offer the world. Focusing on the positive will help your recovery. Belittling yourself will hinder it.
3 Negative Beliefs That Will Destroy Your Recovery
Negative beliefs will destroy your self-esteem and render you less capable of dealing with stress and triggers. You need to reset the recording you hear in your mind to statements of hope and truth about who you were made to be. Listening to negative beliefs will not get you closer to recovery.
#1. Negative Belief: You Are Not Worth Recovery
The idea that you do not deserve recovery is a lie. You deserve your best life. You were created for a purpose and can overcome addiction to alcohol and/or other substances. To put this idea into perspective, would you ever tell another person they did not deserve their best life or were not worth recovery?
No. You are valuable and needed. Belittling yourself by believing yourself to be unworthy is an example of fraudulent thinking. When you accept a lie about what you do or do not deserve, you undercut your recovery and create unnecessary stress. You might also be self-sabotaging and triggering yourself into believing that if you are not worth recovery, then you should give up.
Giving up is not a viable option. You deserve recovery, and you deserve your best life. Do not believe for a moment you are unworthy. You are loved and valued by many, some you may not even have met yet.
#2. Negative Belief: You Can’t Recover
Believing a lie of being incapable of doing something difficult is much easier than attempting that something difficult. Recovery is difficult, but not impossible. People recover every day. Relapse sometimes happens but does not have to occur. You have the potential to do anything you set your mind to accomplish; you can achieve recovery.
When you tell yourself something is impossible, you have two options: do not try to accomplish that goal or prove that belief wrong and try anyway. By considering the possibility of recovery, you have already taken a step to establish the idea of being unable to recover wrong. You can recover. You began the process just by opening your mind to the possibility of life without addiction to alcohol and/or other substances. You have already taken the first step.
#3. Negative Belief: Nobody Else Believes in You
The idea that nobody else believes in you is a generalization. You likely have a multitude of people who believe in you. Your Higher Power also believes in you. However, the most important person to believe in you is yourself. The time has come to be stubborn enough to believe in yourself. Whether or not others believe in you is unimportant. What matters is whether or not you believe in yourself.
Deciding to recover is all about you and the impact you want to make in others’ lives. You may want to change for your family, children, friends, or just for yourself. One reason for recovery gets you through each moment. Your reasons matter, and because of those reasons, you have the potential to recover. Believe in yourself. You may have to take recovery moment by moment, but recovery is possible. Stop relying on others to believe in you. You have the power to own your recovery and believe in yourself.
Replace Negative Beliefs With Positive Statements
Before CDs, there were cassette tapes. As a child, you may have recorded over cassette tapes. Sometimes the recording stuck, and sometimes, you could still hear the old recording. When you could still hear the old recording, the best thing to do was get a new blank tape. Finding a new tape was not always possible, so you had to re-record what you wanted on the old tape. The idea of replacing negative beliefs is similar to recording over old tapes. Finding a new tape is not always possible, but re-recording is. So, when you hear a negative thought come into your mind about your value, ability, or faith in your ability to recover, replace it, and record a new thought. “I can recover.” “I deserve the life I want.” “I have value.” “I believe in myself.” “My recovery matters.” “I matter.”
Revising your beliefs and self-talk takes time and persistent effort, but it pays off. The more you practice positive self-talk, the more confident you will feel about your recovery and yourself.
You deserve recovery and the ability to believe in the possibility of recovery. The time has come to put old thought patterns and beliefs aside so you can fully embrace your potential to recover. You are valued and capable. At Renaissance Ranch, we believe in the ability of every person to recover. We offer services for every step of the recovery process, including detoxification, residential and outpatient treatment, sober living, and aftercare through our alumni network, the Band of Brothers. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction to alcohol and/or other substances, help is available. You do not have to struggle alone. Reach out and ask for help. Renaissance Ranch offers a clinically driven and gospel-centered treatment approach to help you overcome addiction. Call Renaissance Ranch today at (801) 308-8898 and learn how we can help you build the life you want and deserve. You do not have to struggle alone any longer.