You aren't alone

Reaching out for help is a vital and conversely difficult necessity. You cannot recover from addiction alone; if you could, you would have before the insanity of the disease took a complete hold on your life and probably almost cost you everything (or perhaps did). In life, you have to humble yourself enough to know that you will never know everything about anything (especially yourself).

It goes against an addict’s very nature to seek the help of others. We are loners and naturally isolate ourselves, in addition to being egocentrics with self-esteem issues (paradox intended). It isn’t uncommon for an addict (whether active or recovering) to feel completely alone and isolated in a room full of people. We feel like outcasts and certainly play the role, at least in our own minds.

Pride is a huge issue many people battle, but to the addict who has yet to find humility pride is both his or her best friend and our constant undoing. It drives us onward at breakneck pace towards a cliff whose existence we vehemently deny. “That can’t happen to me; maybe everyone else, but not me. I’ve got it all under control. I can stop any time I choose.” For the addict, this is the prime example of false bravado mixed with hubris. Control is an illusion, and the sooner anyone can see past that façade the better.

Oftentimes people talk about an addict hitting “rock bottom” and the fact that everyone’s bottom is different. While this is true, I submit to you that for most of us our bottom directly correlates to the point where our ego is smashed and humility introduces itself. The bottom is when you have simply had enough and are willing to go no lower, to lose no more. Our pride typically has been dashed against the rocks, along with our hopes, dreams and aspirations (at least for the time being). Only when you have laid all of this ego down, lost every bit of it without finding it again are you able to accept the path you must take without any reservations.

Is pride holding you back? Do you need to reach out to someone for help, addiction or not? What are you waiting for? Lay down your pride and your chains together, because they are one in the same.