The greatest love starts within ourselves. Simple concept… difficult to do. Being a recovering addict, I know first hand that I did not love myself: heck, I didn’t even like myself! Recovery started when I came home to me. That meant learning to set boundaries, honor my space and my time, have self discipline, and make better life choices.

When I went to treatment I did not buy the concept of all this “inner child” fluff talk. This was just something weak minded people made up to sell to unsuspecting souls. I was too smart for that. And then, after a very intense experiential session with my therapist, there she was, right in front of me, my “inner child”. Her name is “Sparkly”. I tell you this because doing the work brought new energy and balance into my life. Sparkly loves shiny things. She loves ice cream, jumping up and down and is full of life, and joy, and innocence, and dreams. She has hope and always sees things in a positive way. She is quite the contrast from the self-loathing, self-deprecating active addict who had zero for self-esteem. All these results from taking the risk of doing what was asked of me in therapy, even if I didn’t believe in it myself.

Many people mistake the idea of self care in recovering addicts for “selfish”. It is a misconception. We must learn to love ourselves and what better way than finding that loveable small person inside ourselves? Whitney Houston says it best when she says “Learning to love yourself…is the greatest gift of all”. Everyone needs a hero….learning to love yourself lets you be your own hero. Make loving yourself a priority. It gives you back your dignity, reminds you to laugh at yourself, and you will always be in good company!