The reality is that change is going to feel painful, unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and uncertain. Too often people focus only on their pain, what they will have to go through to change, without reflecting on the pain that their actions have caused loved ones and friends.
For many addicts and alcoholics coming to terms with the puzzle of addiction – knowing they need to change and doing the complete opposite is frustrating and scary. However, the good news is that the barriers and objections are within you and that means you have the ability to change them. It’s just a matter of isolating them, examining them and then changing what doesn’t work or fit anymore.
In one of my first lectures in treatment, I kept hearing about the spiritual principles that I needed to incorporate into my recovery. For the principles listing on the sign-up sheet, I falsely assumed that I’d go to a dimly lit room, with incense wafting and cloistered monks reading from musty, dusty tomes. I hoped that they would enlighten me and give me ancient wisdom on how to change.
Instead, I learned from recovering people like myself in recovery support meetings.
“When we make progress quickly, it feeds our emotions. Then, when there’s a period of waiting or we hit a plateau, we find out how committed we really are and whether we’re going to see things through to the finish or quit.” Joyce Meyer
It is when we cannot see that changes are going to make our life better or that we will feel better because of the modification, we often balk, resist, or create obstacles to change. We give into fears, discuss how difficult it is to change, and create excuses so we don’t have to change.