The Power to Change

Thought: ‘I am powerless over your addiction too. I can support you but I cannot change you.’
Addictions UK uses Twitter to share inspirational Thoughts every day. This article is based on one of them. Follow us at @addictionsuk.
The first of the Twelve Steps requires the “We admitted we were powerless over addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.”
The difficult truth is that we cannot just give up and give in and let someone else take over.
If I am trying to write an article and I get writer’s block, I can ask a friend to take over and complete the work. I need take no more part in it.
But addiction is something within, not something “out there” from which we can detach ourselves. We cannot hand over our life to someone else and have them manage every detail for us. Not, at least, unless we have been persuaded to join some abusive cult.
It may be true that life has become unmanageable but just facing that fact does not of itself solve the problem. The way forward is not to hand over to another human to tell us what to do but to seek help and strength from our friends and families and from any Higher Power we acknowledge to support us as we face and take decisions and, litle by little, one at a time, pick up the pieces.
When I say, “My life has become unmanageable”, I need to add “So, with help and support and encouragement I must start to get it back under control”.
Please contact us now if you need help with recovery from any addiction and especially if you are seeking home-based treatment.