Why You Want to Forget Your Past but Shouldn’t in Recovery

Why You Want to Forget Your Past but Shouldn’t in Recovery

You may not realize that your painful past can actually be an asset in keeping you sober. The problem that lies in rehashing all the shady and illegal lapses in judgment is that they make you feel like a bad person. Although your addiction is not a justification for bad behavior, your addiction is something that will keep you mentally, physically, and spiritually sick if you are not actively pursuing recovery for your sobriety. Without having a plan to recover, your seedy activities will continue to pile on.

Once you have a recovery program to help you sort out your less than stellar activities during your drinking and using career, you can use them to your advantage. Turn those memories that make you shiver in disgust into a way to become vulnerable by helping others who also need help working through their sordid past.

Turn that shame into an aim

Shame and guilt can rule your emotions making you feel like you are the worst person in the world for what you are capable of doing under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Once you start sharing about everything in your past, you can get into acceptance that, yes, you did do those things, but you do not have to live like that any longer. What works for many people in recovery is that they aim their game into working their steps, talking about their shame in therapy, and sharing about it in their meetings to discover their experience, strength, and hope.  

Turn that pain into your gain

One of the reasons that people continue to drink and use when they know that they are past the point of no return is that they are afraid to face the agony of their past. Domestic abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, trauma, and loss can change you the minute that these situations occur. The avoidance of the pain from using drugs and alcohol to cope just makes the pain worse in the long run through suppression rather than working it out. Walking through the uncomfortableness of what happened can save your soul and give you the fortitude to help others who need some encouragement in their own misery. 

One of the secrets to staying sober is never forgetting where you came from so that you can remember where you will go back to if you start drinking or using again. Addiction is a progressive disease that will pick right back up where you left it if you give it the chance to do so. Play the tape all the way through so that your past can dictate your future to show you that your recovery today is the solution. 

Offering a full range of recovery and mental health services, Detox Center of Colorado offers “Expanded Recovery” to enrich our clients’ lives in mind, body, and spirit. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Detox Center of Colorado fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call us today for more information: 303-536-5463

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