One of the hardest things about living in sobriety can be learning to live with the choices and mistakes you’ve made in the past. The things you once did may haunt you, and even if you’re going through the motions for sobriety and working to keep with your treatment program, if you’re hanging onto those things, you’re not really letting yourself advance in your recovery as you should.
Everyone makes mistakes. At some point in their life, almost every person alive will do something terrible that they regret, or say something they wish they could take back, or any number of mistakes and choices that come back to bite us later on. No one, not a rich or poor person of any race or gender is exempt from this. It’s just a part of life: everyone will mess up at some point. Not everyone will make mistakes with drugs or alcohol, but some people may make mistakes with gambling, or crime, or even getting romantically involved with people they shouldn’t on a repeated basis. No one is perfect, and one of the biggest problems we can cause for ourselves is to fool ourselves into thinking that anyone else has a completely clean record. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll learn to not be quite as hard on yourself.
There’s no shame in owning up to your past mistakes. In fact, it’s a good thing to take ownership of your past actions and choices, but when you start to dwell on them and beat yourself up about them, that’s when they become unhealthy to keep in your mind. Love yourself enough to learn to let it go; nothing you do now will change what was done, and the only way to not let the past define your future is to continue to move onward and upward. It’s okay to feel a little ashamed of what you did, but you’ve gotta realize that holding onto it will only do you more harm than good.
You can forgive yourself for past mistakes by remembering that at the end of the day, the past is the past, and what you should be focusing on is your next steps. If you’re finally coming to terms with your addiction, The Springboard Center is ready to help you through the next steps. They’ll tailor their treatment program to what best fits your needs, and prepare you for a healthy, well-rounded life in sobriety. Choose to make a better future for yourself, and call today: 432-620-0255.
