Do You Want To Be Well?

Last Updated: September 19, 2022
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One thing I’ve come to acknowledge is that we are all recovering from something. It doesn’t have to be the throes of addiction or a life-long wrestle out of a trauma-laced childhood, but each day we live and breathe is ripe with reasons why recovery is critical.

You wake up feeling the freshness of the morning, and by the end, we experience anger, shame, guilt, self-deception, frustration, unworthiness, and manipulation; each chipping away at our “wellness” and threatening to land us in a place that reaches for the numbing agents of our choosing. 

Culturally, in the west, we are married to a stigma that the only ones who need recovery work are those dealing with the “depravity of addiction,” things like hard alcohol, pornography, and drugs.

At the same time, many of us are willing to turn a blind eye to social media scrolling, shopping, entertainment streaming, food, boundary-less work hours, and the social media platforms that suck up and numb an excessive number of hours. Many of us use the list above to try and recover what was lost, but ultimately, addiction only adds to the loss.

As David Hampton, my guest this week on Saving You A Seat, says, “If you want to know what you’re drinking at, stop drinking, and you’ll find out real fast.” Because as soon as the pain strikes and we are self-aware enough to hear our internal dialog saying, “I need… (list said numbing agent),” that is the moment we can choose to take a step back and examine what’s going on and what’s truly needed.

Sobriety can be a miraculous and challenging change for someone stuck in the throes of addiction. Putting down the numbing substances is only the first step, but what does sobriety of body and mind look like? It turns everything you once thought you knew upside down, inviting you to see the world in a new light and step into radical wellness.

Today is a perfect day to explore that very question. So, take a moment and sit with yourself in a radically honest way and ask yourself, “what might I be leaning on that’s bringing death, where I need to experience life?”. And as you sit in that place, imagine what it looks like to crack open the door to renewal and recovery. Stepping through the threshold into radical self-care and wellness is only a step away.

Is it a 10-minute mindfulness meditation that replaces 10-minutes of mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or Tik Tok? Is it journaling about your day and finding a point of gratitude when you might be stuck ruminating on what’s wrong and the anger inside? Maybe you read a chapter of a book instead of streaming your show. Maybe you walk around the park instead of clicking add to cart or reach for the watermelon instead of the chocolate. The micro-changes we make might seem like they don’t matter, but it’s a big deal when our heart, mind, and body get routine opportunities to replenish the life drained throughout our day.

Sobriety is not a journey for the faint of heart. It is not a one-time put-down-the-thing type of deal. It is a one-day-at-a-time deep dive into self-connection that includes emotional, spiritual, and relational well-being, healing, and humility. The heartbeat of sobriety is honesty, openness, willingness, and a lot of surrendering of control.

So I invite you to take five and be willing to surrender control. Open yourself up to some radical self-awareness, find a micro-change to make this week, and let’s continue the journey of wholeness and healing together.

If you’re looking for a tool to help launch you forward, let me encourage you to download my 3-week journaling workbook called, My Connection Manifesto. It is geared toward helping people understand the importance of connection and how you can create more of it in your own life. Simply click here to download.

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