What do you do when the Universe is pushing you to share your experience, strength and hope but the story is so personal that writing it down for others to read is painful? That is the position I have found myself in recently as a newly certified coach. I have come to realize that my story is important to who I am and that if you are going to trust me to help you with your journey my journey should be made public.
One of the things I was taught this past year is that "what you resist persists". In law of attraction terms what you focus on expands and if you have resistance around something then it will continue to hang around until it is dealt with.
My self esteem issues started young and primarily centered around weight issues. I grew up in a family riddled with alcoholism on both sides but recovery entered my home when I was young thankfully. My grandparents lived in Akron,Ohio which is the Mecha for Alcoholics Anonymous and as the story goes the program was birthed there in the carriage house of what later became Stan Hewitt Hall. Multiple family members were in the program and I was around the program as a young child. My focus, however, was drinking cokes out of bottles and eating cake at the end. Little did I know these experiences would foreshadow my personal and professional journey.
Jump ahead to college and graduate school where my self esteem issues were a problem and my behavior although not much different than most college students was causing me problems. I socialized with very few people and when I did I partied hard. While in graduate school for Social Work a close friend of mine went to treatment and I was devastated. Not only was I devastated but I was lost. How could my social life be tied completely to only one person? I was advised by my mother of all people to go to Al-Anon. This program has brought me more peace and understanding than I could have ever hoped for. Al-Anon is a 12 step program for family and friends of alcoholics. I have since been attending for over 25 years and the tools I was taught helped me through every area of my life.
Now back to spring of 1989 I began attending the meetings, started feeling stronger and happier. In those meetings I was also introduced to a very handsome and charming (they are all very charming at the beginning) blonde haired and blue eyed recovering addict/alcoholic that I later married. Are you beginning to see where I am going with this?
I began my job at the local mental health center and found myself working in the substance abuse division due to my extensive understanding of 12-step programs. I ran groups, did assessments, coordinated an inpatient program for women and as the job description reads "any other duties as assigned". Little did I know that as I worked day in and day out with addicts and alcoholics my life was about to take a devastating turn. Right under my trained nose my husband was in full relapse and I had no idea.
In the next few blog posts I will share with you my experience with addiction. How it devastated me personally and professionally. How addiction effected my marriage and my children. How I eventually found my life again and how I now have the experience to help others with similar issues through my coaching programs. This is a series you will not want to miss. These blogs will be difficult and emotional for me to write but for me to help you I must lay it all out to show you that there is hope and that the Universe has your back in all the dark times. I wish I had these coaching tools along with my support groups back then. I know my journey would have been easier.
Has your life been affected by someone else's addiction? If so I want to invite you to join my new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Mylovedoneisaddicted/
You don't have to go through this journey alone!! Are you ready to heal?