Considered by many belief systems, pride can be extremely hurtful not only to yourself but more importantly, to your recovery. It can cause you to believe unrealistically about yourself and your capabilities and lead you to take risks they wouldn’t otherwise take. It can make you believe yourself invulnerable to the harms that others face. Everyone has thought before, “that couldn’t happen to me,” but those thoughts can be dangerous because there is a potential that anything could happen to you. Making a plan to avoid those things that might risk you and your recovery can keep you from asking for the help you need in order to achieve the life of recovery you want to have.
If It Were Easy, It Would Have Been Done Already
Recovery is not a simple matter. If it were something you could achieve with a snap of your fingers or a wave of your hands then drugs or alcohol would not have such a prevalent role in your life and addiction might never even become a part of your life.
The fact is, getting and staying sober is difficult. It isn’t something that happens overnight, and it isn’t something that can be done alone. Pride offers many excuses as to why sobriety may not be attainable. These excuses may seem reasonable at the moment, even if they are not rational, but they can cause great harm to your life and your recovery.
Accepting Help is Not Weakness
You may not want to look weak and therefore will use your pride as a way to avoid looking to others for help. Even though you are aware of your imperfections, the feelings of shame associated with them may cause you to try hard to hide what you are struggling with and therefore leaving it harder for people to help you. The false perception that you are creating by hiding what is going on makes it hard not only for people to help you but even harder for you to accept the help you need.
Asking for help and surrendering to the help being offered may be your only chance for recovery. Accepting help, as hard as it can be, is the only option when hiding from yourself and others hasn’t been working. Walking through recovery is not something you have to do alone. It is okay to need help and more than likely there are plenty of individuals in your life that want to help. Needing help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of being a humble human.
Everyone Needs a Support System
There is a saying, “it takes a village” and it can be applied to the recovery process as well as many other aspects of your life. What does it mean and how does it apply to you? The saying means that a support system is important for everyday life which means you are allowed to ask for support. Sometimes asking for help can be the difference between finding recovery and relapse because a support system helps to keep you accountable and provides a foundation for the road to recovery.
Having someone or somewhere to turn to during difficult times is essential for all humans. By nature, humans are social creatures and we are not equipped for isolation. Pride can often tell you deceiving information that you don’t need others and that you can find recovery on your own. Yet the stories that our pride and ego tell us may be the difference between finding recovery and staying in your addiction. It is never too late to ask for help and you will be even stronger for having the willingness to ask for help and surrendering to letting others help you in your time of need.
Pride can greatly hinder the path to recovery, which is already hard enough. The recovery journey begins with the humility to ask for help and having the support network to guide you and hold you accountable. There are many feelings and emotions that come up in the early recovery process and it may be hard to know where to start to untangle the life you have been living. That’s where the Detox Center of Colorado comes in. We offer individualized treatment plans, built on evidence-based therapies. Located in the Rocky Mountains just outside of Denver, we combine the raw beauty of nature with professional and compassionate care to help our clients reconnect with themselves, their peers, their family, and their higher power. Our aim is to make the withdrawal period as smooth as possible and to help create a continued care plan that is made specifically for you or your loved one. For a facility that focuses on enhancing clients’ lives by healing the body, mind, and spirit, give the Detox Center of Colorado a call at (303) 952-5035.
