Addiction can drive a wedge between ourselves and our parents. Recovery helps us to heal our relationship with our parents as we learn how to learn from them and allow them to parent us. Not everyone who comes to recovery comes to recovery with parents who are supportive. Many have lost their parents, have been abandoned, or have abandoned their own family. For those who are in a position to heal a relationship with their parents, there is much to be learned.
Parents can either set an example by showing us how to act or how not to act. We pick things up by the way our parents speak, treat others, their reactions to stressful situations and habits. If our parents smoke or drink, children will think it is okay to do the same thing. If parents treat each other with respect and solve fights with healthy resolutions, children will absorb that information when they become older. When children are bullied or are suffering from a low self-esteem, parents have a way to remind you of your best qualities and to make you feel better. They can teach you how to handle the situation whether it is to talk to your teacher or confront the bully to stop. Parents remind you that every day is a chance to do better and see outside the box when it looks like there is no hope.
Parents can also teach you lessons the hard way instead of handing everything to you. Parents will teach you to earn your own money by finding a part-time job. You can feel a sense of accomplishment to know that you worked hard to get what you wanted. You can also learn to appreciate your family and how important it is to be surrounded by people who love you. You will realize this when it comes to making dinner, playing games, going on trips, and making memories with them that you will want to create when you have a family of your own.
Your parents will also teach you to appreciate what you have. In moments when you compare yourself to your friends and wish you had everything they had, parents will remind you what you do have like home-cooked meals, love from your family, and enough money to put food on the table. Another important habit you will learn from your parents is how to respect other races and different beliefs. They will teach you that you may not always agree but you should respect the opinion of others. Most importantly, your parents will teach you how to love yourself so that others will love you as well.
Located in downtown Midland, The Springboard Center’s mission is to offer programs and services to treat alcohol and drug addiction treatment using an evidence based curriculum, 12 step programs, diet, nutrition, exercise, emotional, mental and spiritual development for a long recovery. For more information, please call us at 432-620-0255 as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
