Thought: ‘Self-loathing is a form of self-indulgence.’
Addictions UK uses Twitter to share inspirational Thoughts every day. This article is based on one of them. Follow us at @addictionsuk.
If you think that you are the worst human who ever lived, you need to learn a little humility.
Stop chasing titles and accolades, even those negative ones, and face the fact that you are just another person who makes mistakes.
Your problems are real. The challenges you face are enormous. Sometimes you will need all your courage to confront them and all of your strength to fight them. No-one could be in greater danger or have more to do to escape it.
But no-one is, from time to time, in any less danger or finding life easier.
For each and every one of us the problems are sometimes overwhelming and dealing with them is as much as we can manage.
So two lessons emerge.
We need to escape the distraction of ranking ourselves and our problems and, with help from our friends and families, supporters and mentors, get on with the job of facing the issues and dealing with them.
We need to take strength from the Thought that whatever the difficulty and danger, others have faced it and got over with it. The boat may be rocking ferociously but we are all in the same one.
The realisation that you have an addiction to alcohol or drugs or some other substance or process may really get you down and facing the fact that addiction has caused you to make some awful mistakes is not a pleasant experience.
But you are human. People get it wrong. There is no absolute ranking of humanity into the best and the worst. Like everyone else you do good and bad and all sorts of external factors mitigate and explain (but rarely excuse) your failings.
And being human, you have the potential to face down your problems and deal with them.
You are not the worst human who ever lived, and you can become a better one.
Please contact us now if you need help with recovery from any addiction and especially if you are seeking home-based treatment.
