When I first began my personal journey of recovery and healing from my own addictions and began to seek emotional sobriety, I heard people in my support circles speaking about gratitude. Often, I would feel annoyed thinking that they were just in denial and not dealing with the real issues. How could people feel gratitude when dealing with their own character flaws and losses from childhood? At times I also judged that they were feigning gratitude as a way to avoid the real pain they were feeling. It took me time to experience emotional sobriety which led to authentic gratitude. I think they come hand in hand. Slowly, I began to feel some gratitude as I started to experience my own authentic feelings. I'd have moments of deep grief and moments of ecstatic joy. Overtime, these emotions balanced out, but initially it was an up and down journey. Developing emotional sobriety is like that, I think. First we begin to learn what emotions we are experiencing ourselves and then we learn how to hold these emotions rather than "acting them in" or "acting them out" in unhealthy ways. Once we have this foundation of emotional sobriety, we can be more intentional with our emotions.
Today, while it can still be challenging at times, I do create intentional attention to gratitude as part of my journey of Emotional Sobriety. I notice the people that honor and bless me. I notice the ways in which synchronicity guides my life and I spend time each day in prayer and meditation. I appreciate the gifts that come my way. Often, I bring the very intense emotions and challenges that I am experiencing to my meditation and prayer practice and my spiritual connection helps to soothe their intensity. When I presence myself to my own Soul Partnerships and Spirit Guides, gratitude is inevitable. I am no longer run by my emotions and in the moments of serenity and calm, there is a sense of goodness and well-being that I experience. I guess in spite of myself, I feel gratitude more and more each day.
In learning how to hold all of these emotions with grace and maturity, we develop emotional sobriety, which in turn creates the space for more and more gratitude in our lives. While there is a season and time for everything, including authentic grief, I think there is a season and time for gratitude as well. In our emotional maturity, we invite more and more joy and gratitude. This is good.
Today I encourage you to breathe deeply and simply connect with what is going on inside your body, mind and spirit. Allow yourself to simply be with whatever is there be it gratitude, joy, fear, sadness, etc. Just practice being with whatever is there and inviting your own Spirit Guides and Divine Source to be there with you. As you begin to really anchor and trust the foundation of this Spiritual Connection, you will also begin to connect authentically with yourself. This connection to self and your own divine source creates emotional sobriety and also welcomes authentic grief. This authentic grief will lead you to the experience of authentic gratitude.
Blessings on your journey,
Sally
