You may have fooled me once, but know I have embraced Step 1 and my powerlessness over your choices makes it impossible for you to fool me again. All of these things weaken me and disgust me and I can’t function in the manner I am accustomed to. So now I must lie here quietly waiting.Oh, you may not see much of me anymore, but I am here—and I have all the time in the world to wait for you. When things went wrong, I was there to agree with you about how unfair life is and how blameless you are for anything that happens to you. I was the only one who would crawl down into the slimy paralysis of self-pity and wallow around with you there.
Step 5: Seek support and guidance
The relationship between you and I may be at an end, but it is not too late for me to rebuild my relationships with my family members and friends. That said, I know I cannot blame you entirely for the way things have gone. Just as I am working to regain control in my life, I am also taking responsibility. I chose to start our relationship, and now I am choosing to end it. I know that saying “goodbye” to you for good will take hard work, but I am doing exactly that. I now know that none of these feelings were genuine and that I was being manipulated throughout our time together.
Letter From My Addiction Template
Don’t ever get too confident in this life. The monster still hides in the shadows, just waiting for us. But God is always standing beside you, defending you. Just because you can’t see him, doesn’t mean he isn’t there. He’s offered you and is still offering you healing.
- I did feel broken but today I feel restored.
- The day you decide to stop using substances is a significant moment in your life.
- She works with clients every day, sharing her recovery experience in the hopes they will have their own recovery story to tell.
- That was a huge step and not an easy one.
Hashgacha Pratis (A&W Moments)
It’s about moving forward, leaving addiction behind, and becoming a better, resilient individual. When you’re ready to put your compulsive substance abuse in the past, Phoenix Rising Recovery is here to help. Our rehab center in Palm Springs, California, offers a full continuum of customized care. We include options such as detox, residential treatment, a partial hospitalization program, an intensive outpatient program, and traditional outpatient services. We take pride in cherishing the little moments that we used to not be able to see.
- And so, we hide – believing that all is lost.
- Be sure that this section does not become an exhaustive list of every large and small grievance you have that relates to addiction.
- When in the midst of it, it’s easy to let other aspects of life, like relationships, jobs and finances, fall by the wayside.
- But to have decided not to save themselves when they had the opportunity would have only multiplied the tragedy.
- I am not going to stop spreading a message of hope.
- During this holiday season, we all want our hearts to be open and filled with love.
In the end, with support, you put your words and willingness into action and have made tremendous progress. Carole Bennett, M.A., is a family substance abuse counselor, lecturer, columnist and author based at her Family Recovery Solutions Counseling Center in Santa Barbara, CA. I do not want to give up on our relationship. At least, not over this or in this manner. A decision to break off our (whatever we have) relationship of living together, having fun, enjoying this life together should not be thrown over away over my illness.
Don’t go! We can help.
But for now, you must travel the difficult path and find the will to letter to my addiction survive. You will become stronger each time you choose to steer away from that dangerous and tempting path at the fork in the road. It may be hard to see because the path to recovery is difficult. But please know you are not walking alone – hands of help are reaching out to you with your every step. Daily, there are people out there telling you no – bosses, friends, parents, spouses and significant others – and that is just a part of life.
- One of the major barriers to treatment is stigma.
- Describe the person in your own words that relate to how you view them — both before and after addiction — as well as what your relationship means.
- This positivity and support may prompt them to finally get help because they know that you are by their side.
- He has a sand timer and our time is running low.
- The difference is how we react to and cope with our emotions, whether they are good or bad.
- You don’t stop when we are shaking, physically withdrawing from your chemicals.
- I am not going to stop working in this field (until I am burnt out and need to leave in order to continue taking care of myself).
- Eventually, I realized that I was wrong.
- First, it models that recovery is an inside job and that everyone must take responsibility for their own recovery.
I am not going to stop reaching my hand out to the newcomer, trying again and again to give them even a microscopic portion of what I’ve gained throughout my recovery. I am not going to stop working in this field (until I am burnt out and need to leave in order to continue taking care of myself). Discover the invaluable benefits of utilizing our Goodbye Letter to Addiction template on your patient’s path to recovery and freedom from substance dependency.
Offer Support & Love
Whenever I felt like you were the key to getting through life, it was nothing more than a lie. For this and many more reasons, it is now time to bid you “goodbye” forever. For a time, it felt like all I needed in the world was you.
It’s kind of like the movies, where a person is sitting in a chair and looking at the wall clock. We can see that the hands on the clock are moving, the people are being fast-forwarded, but yet we remain sitting still just stuck and staring. A pretty face we hide behind and walk around, as though there is no pain, no secrets, and no problems. We become puppets and every action is directed by someone, driven by a force we cannot control. A letter that you never show your addicted loved one can be written however you want and doesn’t need to follow any specific guidelines.