Foundation Four Self-Care In Recovery: Sensorial Embrace

What kind of word is that? I know that is probably what your thinking! To be honest with you I am not sure it’s totally right but what I do know is that in the dictionary is means exactly what I am trying to tell you all here. When we are in recovery we have to take a moment to remember what it is like to feel and embrace everything in life again. I don’t just mean to hug or touch something I mean to really feel and really understand.

Sensory | Sensorial Embrace

Out of touch. That is something we all become when we “check-out” and become devoured by the darkness of our own. We already know we don’t feel anything emotionally really and we sure don’t feel anything within our soul. But one more thing we don’t do is take the time to embrace and feel all the beautiful things in life. So this my friends is something we if we can learn to keep in focus then we can break addiction and heal mental illness because we will feel too wonderful and see life in a completely different way.

Before I started down the road of my “dark days” there was nothing better to me than when my children held my hand in the store, or the sound of them singing in the car, even the simple view of the water on the lake could make my day. I loved life and the life I was given and especially the people in my life.

We lose these senses once we are consumed in darkness. It is probably the hardest to regain control of once we begin recovery and once you start to you will feel things like you have never felt them before. I know that this is the final part of the foundations. I had to learn to embrace life again. So do you.

When your driving down the road in the city at night and you see the lights of the buildings so bright and beautiful with colors and you have to smile or take a deep breath or even get chill over your body? That is you embracing the sensory of your emotional and physical needs. Your mind, body, and soul are feeling the gift of life. The view is exquisite and you can’t hold back the feeling of how much you love that very view!

One touch from your children. Kisses at bedtime, hugs in the morning, excited embrace after school, or holding your hand in the store are just a few moments of sweet love that your embracing. A tear falls down your face or you smile so big it hurts and you think to yourself never could you imagine a better life than what you have in that moment. That is a sensory embrace! You are feeling the love of this life!

Your best friend calls your cell after years of not speaking to you because you have been so out of it that they couldn’t bare to see you that way. You meet your best friend for lunch at your favorite spot and she is laughing that dorky loud laugh that you have forgotten that you missed and you start to cry. That my dear friends is you embracing the sensory of life. The feeling of comfort and belonging because she is the only person who ever made you feel that way!

I could go on for days with the different parts of our senses that we begin to feel more intensely once we begin to recover but I think you know now. These are the emotions, the feelings, the physical parts, the moments and the results of life happening when your in recovery. If we allow ourselves to feel them whether good or bad without going back into the darkness we can find our final foundation to success. It is so intensely important to allow yourself to feel and embrace life as it is with whatever emotion it is so that we can regain control over what we feel. I don’t know how many times I lost myself over and over again because I wouldn’t allow myself to feel anything during my dark days and that is one of my biggest mistakes.

I will always make sure that I embrace every single part this life that I have been given because it is a beautiful life to live and that is what we cannot forget.

TO FEEL IS TO BE ALIVE AND TO BE ALIVE IS TO FEEL.

DON’T CUT YOURSELF OR YOUR LIFE SHORT ANY LONGER! STAND ON A SOLID FOUNDATION!

@chic_sober

Foundation Four Self-Care in Recovery: Physical Alertness | 09+12+19

I am not a person who enjoys a 7 day of the week workout. I cannot tell you that I have ever competed a workout challenge in my life. But what I can tell you is that in the past 7 months the more active I have stayed the better I have felt. Just get up and move! Go to the park and walk the track, grab a basketball and shoot some hoops, workout or try yoga once or twice a week. This doesn’t have to be hardcore workouts; you just gotta keep yourself moving every single day! Our bodies need it! Did you know…

Physical | Physical Alertness

www.wellandgood.com
When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine

When we are depressed or suffering from addiction we can often forget to take care of our physical selves. We don’t eat right, sleep right, or anything that we should. That is why our hair falls out or we get dark circles under our eyes. You’ll notice acne begin to appear and your sick more often than not. We deprive ourselves of nutrition and wellness that we need to survive. These things eventually start to get to the point where we are nothing but a walking skin.

I know that I never want my body to ever feel or look that way again. Knowing how much I was depriving myself of I try to make up for that now. Over the past few months or so I can really understand and feel the difference in my body. I think that no matter what struggle your facing or addiction your recovering from being Physically Alert can help your overall general health.

Do you ever think about why so many people mediate? Why there are so many health guru’s? Why fitness products and supplements are almost a #1 world-wide seller? Because it feels good to feel good! Nobody really wants to walk around looking and feeling bad. So if we can start to just get up and get active we can always make sure that we have the foundation for success.

Basketball is so much fun! I am completely horrible at it but I love to play with TJ. He makes it look so easy and I’m over here looking like a hippo in yoga pants trying to do back flips! It just don’t look right. But I have fun while playing and after when my heart is beating and I can feel the endorphins going crazy I just love it! Yoga is another favorite of mine. Once, again I look ridiculous but I absolutely love to take part in it. There is a sense of freedom and relaxation once you get over not looking right. Your body just yearns for the activity and it feels fantastic after. I know most of anyone thinks that yoga is silly or hard but in reality its neither. It’s pretty relaxing and certainly fun.

You won’t ever catch me running or jogging for that matter because I am just not a runner but I do love to walk the track at the park especially because mine has a trail through the woods and that’s my soft-spot! Just being up and moving around instead of on my phone or in front of the TV junkin out on junk food makes you feel better!

I mention these activities because they are my own personal examples of b Physical Alertness. The more active I am the more alter my mind, body, and soul will be to the things in life that will try to bring me down. Staying alert isn’t always easy and if we are dumpy and frumpy we are more likely to let something slip by us and fall into the sadness or lose grip of our willpower. So I cannot tell you how important it is to stay alert and get active for not just your physical being but your mind & soul too! It is going to be hard at first but just push forward and know that once that initial pain is gone you will feel so much better!

WHEN THE BODY IS PHYSICALLY READY THERE IS NOTHING THAT WE CANNOT HANDLE MENTALLY…

Be ready always!

@sober_soul

Foundation Four Self-Care In Recovery: Emotional Reset and Refocus | 09+10+19

This, in my opinion, is the second most important of the Foundation Four Self-Care in Recovery . Our minds take almost the biggest hit when we are in active addiction or suffering from an illness. It doesn’t matter if you’re a drinker, druggie, or self-harmed; guaranteed your mind has gotten some very overwhelming damage. So when we are doing DAILY self-care it is important to remember our mind and emotions. There isn’t a day that I don’t have to Reset & Refocus my mind to better myself for the day ahead or from the day that just ended. See, on some days I have to double down on this step and practice in the morning and in the evening.

Emotional | Reset and Refocus

What can you do to Reset & Refocus? Unclutter that brain of yours! Release the emotions that you felt, address the worries you have, and understand that it is okay to feel the way your feeling. Our emotions can get us into trouble and cause us to do the unthinkable. So focus when you are practicing this and don’t try to do what works for someone else. You have to find what works for you. Keep a journal and write about what you have going on inside emotionally, describe what these emotions are making you feel and how it changes your train of thoughts, what fears to do you have? Affirmations and mediation are a life saver at times and can help us to begin to change the way we see life in general. As well, it can help us to learn and understand our emotions. Take the time to Reset your emotions by getting whatever you are feeling out of your mind and into the world. By this I mean write them down, record a video, talk to a trusted friend or therapist/coach, or simply say them out loud. Keeping our emotions inside can do more harm to us than if we let them be spoken.

Once you have Reset then you need to Refocus and get yourself back inline with your goals, routine, and choices. Know where you are in your life that day and what you have to do to make sure you stay on track. We have to stay focused on the task or items’ at hand to be able to be successful. Write down your goals for the day and add a note on the side on how you are going to get that goal done. Don’t overload yourself with goals or task. Keep it simple. Keep it focused. Remind yourself why you are doing the things you are doing, so that you can Refocus on your life one day at a time.

Our emotional damage that happens during the dark days often can leave us wrecked for years to come. Most of the time recovering addicts or those trying to heal from mental illness don’t allow themselves to feel the emotions that come with getting better. Like when they were using or struggling, they try to find a way of numbing or hiding their emotions only in a more rational way. But that is not a good idea at all and here’s why.

Hiding or numbing our emotions is what we were trying to do during the dark days. We did that by some sort of chemical- mind- altering- substance or “checking out” medication and thus lead us to total destruction of our lives. Now, how can on think it can be rational to hide or numb your emotions at all after that statement? Well, I’ll tell ya. It’s not! Like when we are trying to find the pieces of our souls, we need to embrace the emotions that we are currently feeling. Some days this will be easy because we will have something good happen or accomplish a goal of some sort and the emotions with that are good and beautiful. However, let’s face it. Not every day will our emotions going to be good and beautiful. There will be days that we cry for reasons that only we know, days that we are angry and just don’t want to deal with anyone, or days that all we can do is FEEL EVERY SINGLE BIT OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PAST ACTIONS! Since we are trying to live a healthy life we at times will try to find a “rational” way to hide or numb these feelings or emotions. But our foundation of recovery should not be to hide or numb anything any longer; that is how we will break our addictions and illnesses. We have to face our emotions one at a time and learn what helps us through those emotions in a healthy way.

So taking time each day to Reset your emotions and then Refocus your mind will allow you to create a habit of embracing what happens whether good or bad and then striving on to live your life healthy and mentally stable. Because if we cannot control our emotions than we will be subject to fall back into the darkness and lose all that we have worked for or all that we will have through recovery.

On the days that it is harder, don’t allow yourself to be alone. Find someone you can trust or find someone who will just hold you and let you be you facing whatever it is your feeling. Remember to find what makes you happy and allow yourself to feel no matter what that emotion is, because so long as you want to live a good life you will be able to. But you have to take time daily to Reset and Refocus your emotions. Some may need to turn up the radio in the car and cry! Some may need to put on their boots and hit the woods and scream at the top of their lungs. Or maybe they might need to go to church and cry out to God and find peace. However, it is that you face your emotions is up to you but it is most important to face them daily.

There is no hiding.

There is no running.

There is no numbing.

So Reset your emotions and Refocus your mind.

That is all for now.

@chic_sober

Foundation Four Self-Care In Recovery: Spiritual Soul Search | 09+08+19

So today begins the first of our four part series: Foundation Four Self-Care in Recovery: Spiritual Soul Search. I want to begin this four part series with the part of Recovery Self-Care that I find to be the most important and the part that will heal you the most, but it also will take the most work. This is not something that will need to be done one time. This part as well as the other three parts of self-care need to be practiced on a daily basis and day by day you will begin to see and feel yourself getting better. After reading, I hope you will share your thoughts as well share this series of post with your friends and loved ones!

Spiritual | Soul Search

This is the very first and in my opinion the most important of Foundation Four Self-Care in Recovery. We know, that living in addiction is like you are living in Hell and it almost completely destroy our souls. Addiction and mental illness creates a theoretical darkness over our heads and in our souls that take the reins and controls every part of us. This is why it is so difficult to beat addiction or heal a mental illness. Our addictions or illnesses don’t just control our mind’s or bodies but also controls and damages our souls. We are by nature, spiritual beings and this will always be. So when addiction or illness takes the reins on your soul…….

soul
/sōl/
noun
1.
the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
2.
emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance

we become so damaged that it is sometimes seems un-mendable or irreparable. This is why I cannot stress enough how important Spiritual Self-Care is during our recovery journey. I have mentioned before that I call my active addiction days “the Dark Days” and that is so true because it is like darkness consumes our souls and destroys us. So once we begin to come out of active addiction and into recovery we have to mend the spiritual damage that has been done to us. Of course there has been emotional and physical and sensorial damage as well, but I will get to those later in the series. Now, I don’t want to force region on anyone nor do I want to offend anyone, but if you are a follower of my blog than you probably know at this point that I very much have began to walk my life with God’s plan. I believe that his spirit dwells within me and that he is the one that brought me out of my addiction. Now, that I have said that I want to say that when I am talking of Spiritual Self-Care I don’t necessarily mean that you need to find God. What I mean, is to find your soul and find yourself again. There are many different parts that make us who we are; like a very complex puzzle that was put together to make us who we are. When we are in active addiction or suffering from mental illness those pieces are strolled everywhere. Once we make the choice to start on recovery we have to set out to find all of those pieces that make up our own puzzle.

This is the part I call Soul Searching.

Because we have lost all of ourselves during our addiction it is going to be intensely difficult to find what we have lost, but it is possible. Once we get started on our journey of recovery we will have pieces of our lives begin to come together without us even realizing that this is happening and that is a beautiful thing. However, the part of our lives that won’t just fall together is the healing of our souls and the understanding of who we are now, that we have been an addict and suffered from a mental illness and finally began to overcome the things we thought we could not. So how do you Soul Search? How do you start to find and understand yourself when you have been so lost for so long? Well, you have already started to find those two very parts when you have made the choice to get sober or not suffer any longer. Now, this is where life will get real intense incredibly fast. Because you have to face not only the part of your life where you were using or suffering, but you have to face the parts of your life BEFORE using as well. You need to identify what lead you to your addiction or illness. In an earlier post I made called “Reasons Why” I talked about this. We all have reasons why we began using in the first place. To truly recover we need to face these parts of ourselves first.

I recently spoke with a fellow blogger, Adriana, who also battled with addiction. She said that once she realized what the reason was that lead her to use, which she called “a hole in her soul,” she could then use it to help her recover after her addiction. She also noted that this reason dated back all the way to her childhood and I couldn’t agree more. We have won’t all have traumatic or bad childhood’s I know, but the point is that we have to identify and understand what originally damaged our soul in the first place. This is so important for our recovery and to have continuous sobriety for years to come. So when your starting this journey of recovery this needs to be your very first priority. Find your pieces to your soul. Heal your soul. Rebuild your soul.

How can we do that? Writing or creating this blog has had an incredible impact in finding my soul again. Writing all these post and really thinking, addressing, confessing, proclaiming, and so much more here on Sober Soul has given me the ability to find so many different pieces of my own personal puzzle. So again how do you find your soul? How do you soul search? You address your faults, your insecurities, your mistakes, your past! You identify them and then begin to heal from them. Now, I do this on my own. I have always been a person who prefers to deal with her own emotions and spirituality, but if that is not something you can do on your own then find a Life Coach or Sobriety Coach and they can help you to do so. My suggestions is to talk about your life, write about your life, forgive yourself, and remind yourself on a daily basis what you want for your life. We also need to think about who we want to be, what we want to do in our lives, how we want to put our mark on this world, and the ways to get there.

Really understanding what makes you spiritually happy will allow you to break that hold that the darkness has had on your soul. So slowly you will start to find the pieces of yourself that were lost during those dark days. Continuously search for a better you! Doing this daily will allow you to always have the opportunity to be a better version of yourself, do better things in life, and be more successful in life as well.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about my dark days and how it completely ruined my life. However, I remind myself that I am not a user any longer and that I have overcome that in my life and that makes me stronger. So many people don’t believe in themselves enough to stop or heal and recover. They think that they need a doctor or therapist or medication to do so and that is just not always true. There is a way to heal but you have to be willing to always put in the work that it will require. You will have to really understand who you are and what makes you happy. It is our minds and our souls to have control over and really understanding who we are is our responsibility. So practice Soul Searching everyday. Don’t ever give up on yourself and mental state of wellness. Always look for those pieces of yourself that are lost because we are the only ones that can see them and put them into the place that they belong (besides God). It won’t always be pretty nor will it ever be easy but I can guarantee you that it will be rewarding.

This is your life. This is your soul. This is your sobriety. This is your mental state of wellness. This is your recovery

Don’t let something or someone else control what is YOURS!

That is all for now.

@chic_sober

Questions with Adriana | 09+04+19

I follow many different blogs and I find it super refreshing when I find one that is in the niche of sober living. There are not many of us bloggers that will be open and honest about the life we were living before we got sober, but I do believe I have found my idol in the bloggers world. Her name is Adriana Kupresak and not only is she beautiful but she is real and raw and honest about her time as an alcoholic and how it destroyed her life. She talk’s deeply about her battle with men as well and the terribly difficult times she had in her past relationships. Adriana will hit the 3 year mark of being sober come September 11, 2019 and she lives such a beautiful and glamorous life; all without the drugs or booze!

Adriana Kupresak | image found on google | I own no copyrights tot this image or any other images shared of Adriana

I emailed Adriana and asked her if she would so kindly do a quick Q & A with me so that I could share more about her here on Sober Soul and she agree! Now, I know you guys will love her! She is the sweetest and incredibly real. I can’t wait to share with you what she and I talked about. So keep an eye out for her Guest Blogger post and be sure to show her some love once it’s live!

Well, that is all for now!

@chic_sober

*all images copyright Adriana Kupresak & her team.

GUEST BLOGGER: RYAN BIDDULPH|08+28+19

There are so many reasons to be happy and live a good life. I have been posting a lot here lately about living happy and a good life and I am excited to share with you Sober Soul Chic’s first ever Guest Blogger! I follow a lot of bloggers and try to be active in the blogger community. I admire many different writers and have learned so much for so many. There is one blogger that I just love! His blog is always filled with fun, bright, and happy post and that I admire.

I recently contacted him and asked him if he would be a guest blogger here at Sober Soul Chic and he so kindly agreed! I was super excited and I hope that you enjoy his post. Reading his post I hope that from it you will take a fresh look at just how to live a happy and fulfilling life. To embrace what life throws at you and see life in a new way. You, like me, I’m sure will find his post refreshing and uplifting.

His name is Ryan Biddulph and he writes to us from Fiji! How super exciting is that?! You can find him over at BLOGGING FROM PARADISE. Ryan’s blog is more for the blogger enthusiast and full of how-to’s, E-courses on blogging, and tips from the big name blogger himself. But I’m sure anyone can find fun in reading his blog because it’s full of awesome reads. One of my favorites is: How can you raise your blogging vibe. This is one of his video blog post and its full of fun and helpful blogger tips! Ryan definitely has a good blogger vibe, I mean he is writing from Fiji after-all!

Ryan is also a judge on the Blogger Awards and thus is truly a seasoned and knowledgeable vet blogger. His style is different from others and that is one of the reason’s I like to follow his blog. Anyhow, enough of my rants for today. My fellow bloggers and readers I give to you

Ryan Biddulph from Blogging from Paradise:

Thank you Ryan for sharing with us a bit of insight from your point of view! I absolutely loved it! If you want to see more from Ryan be sure to check out his links above and be sure to tell him that you found him from right here on Sober Soul Chic!

That is all for now!

@chic_sober

Happiness | 08+24+19

Find an understanding within yourself about your life…and then you can begin to recover….

I recently wrote about how most addicts have an underlying reason that they start using. That I think is important when you start your journey of recovery. There also needs to be a sense of understanding with yourself. We need to understand what our reasons are, how they affect us, what is happening to us , and most of all we need to understand where we are in life and how we got there, to truly recover.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t pray for understanding in my life. Understanding what is going on in our lives is important. Understanding our emotions is important. Understanding that we will find a way through the darkness is necessary. Our mind and our souls have been broken at some point and whatever happened to get us to point of being broken; that is what we have to understand. Why it had to happen that way and finding a way through the emotions is often the hardest part.

So how do we find understanding? How to do we find the acceptance of the events in our life? How do we work our way through the emotions? It is our emotions that we try to cover with substance or alchol abuse isn’t it? I have found ways to heal through the emotions that come when you begin your road to recovery and allow you to begin feeling happiness again.

Know what takes your happiness away.
Find the best possible solution to that issue.
Develop a plan that will give you success to complete your solution.
Write these all down. Or make a video journal of your issue, solution, and plan.
Set forth on your plan. You may need to enlist the help of someone to get to where you need to be emotionally. But if you do this alone take it slow and don’t overthink it!
Record your accomplishments and progress. Don’t allow yourself to fall off course. Your end goal is to create a solution to the problem that steals your happiness. Don’t lose sight of that.
Embrace the opportunity to be happy. This is often the hardest part! Accepting that you want to be happy and that you deserve to be happy!
Always be aware of things, people, places, actions, or situations that can steal your happiness! We have to work overtime on managing our happiness during early stages of recovery so pay close attention to everything and everyone around you that risk stealing your happiness from you.
Don’t allow doubt or guilt take anything from you! Remember you are choosing to get sober and that is a beautiful thing and another step closer to a beautiful life!

We need to accept that we deserve to be happy. Of course that is another topic all on its’ own!

However, there is so much beauty in being happy in the moment that your in! Even if your life isn’t completely where you want or need it to be. For example, I don’t have my children back in my life at all! I don’t get to talk to them or see them or have any updates on their life what so ever. But I don’t spend my days sad and angry anymore. Because I cannot get myself to where I need to be if I am not living life!

I know what took my happiness away. I know what started all this for me and I didn’t even realize that until I posted my “Reasons Why” post. My marriage took most of my happiness away and then losing my children took the rest of what I had left away. So therefor I found my issue to what was stealing my happiness. Now, I devleoped a plan for a solutuion to that issue! My plan for getting my children back! Next, I docuement every week my progress on moving my life in the direction to get my kids back. That my friends I do privately because there are some folks that just don’t need to know my every move. I also record my accomplishments of my life progress (also in my plan) and my acccomplishments in the steps to geting my kids back. I remind myself that everything I am doing is to get them back into my life! I have removed anyone from my life that don’t add to my positive and happy vibes in life! I also don’t put myself in situations to risk my sobreity nor my happiness! On the days that I something really good happens and I start to feel guilty for that excitement I feel I remind myself that I have to be happy and healthy to obtain my goal and that it is a part of my recovery, part of my healing, and a part of my life plan! I can see the bigger picture and know that what I am looking forward to is like looking out into the world with a fresh perspective and opening my arms wide letting the air hit my face and the wind blow through my hair as I soak up every moment, because I know that I am lucky to be alive!

My children need me to be everything I can be so that I can fully care for them and give them the life they deserve!

So the next time you are wondering if it is okay to be happy or if you can even find happiness again? Just remember that no matter what if you truly want a good life you can create it and there is nothing wrong with being happy!

That is all for now

@chic_sober

28 Questions Q27 | 06+19+19

Q27: What choices are you are making right now that your future self will thank you for later?

A27: Staying sober, church, job, stability, & living life!

I have said this before but all the choices I am making today are for myself and my children! I want to give them a life and a mom that they can be proud of. For 3 long years I was making choices and even before that I was making choices that myself now kicks my own butt for. But now I am making choices that 3 years from now I know I will proud of myself for!

I choose to stay sober every day and life is so much better!

I choose to walk through this life with God and that is so much better!

I choose to work and keep a job and that is so much better!

I choose to stay where I am instead of run and move around and that is so much better!

I am living life instead of giving up and that is so much better!

I am doing everything I can to get back to my kids and live a good life the way God wants me to and I know that I will thank myself later!

That is all for now

@chic_sober

Your right, sweet girl | 06+18+19

Okay. Just listen then…

It seems as though one of my previous post,

Caught someone’s attention & it also seems that part of my words was clearly misunderstood.

Let me clarify.

Just have a seat and listen, because honestly I didn’t even know you followed.

Not that it’s going to change anything because surely by now your learning that ME, the REAL me says what I feel like needs to be said.

Now, I know you don’t want to be me or anything like me.

Why would you want to be?

I am a recovering drug addicted, I’m depressed at times, I have procrastination issues, I have both mommy and daddy issues, I move around to much, I don’t always think things through, I’m mouthy, I’ve made some really screwed up choices, I have tendencies to piss people off because I tell them off or I tell them what they don’t want to hear. I lie sometimes, I cry sometimes,. I fight sometimes, I mistrust sometimes, I have manipulated people, I have stolen from both people and stores…

I forget to call sometimes….

I have made some really bad choices and then I have mad some other choices…..You now can see me confess them……

Okay I’ll open this up and dig a little deeper for ya…

I chose drugs over my children…

I chose a man over my children…

I chose a fast life over my children…

I chose to burry my pain and anger at myself in drugs…

I chose to sleep with my 3rd cousin

I chose to let the depression eat away at my mind and soul and helped it along by doing more drugs…

I chose to not go to court and get put into jail….

I chose to not finish & follow up with my probation…

I chose to not visit my children…

I chose to let my children down..

I chose to break another promise to my children…

I chose to move away from my chldren….

I chose to leave my children behind….

I chose to not fight for my children….

Are we getting better? Does it feel good to see me say ALL THAT for the world wide web? Well, let me just claifiy for you….

On February 17th, 2019 I decided that I no longer was going to make all the stupid and irrational choices anymore. I couldn’t take it anymore and sine then I have been living a life that I can be proud of. Part of that life comes with OWNING up to my mistakes, my choices, and my actions.

I’m not scared sweet girl…

I am fully armed and ready for what comes my way because for once in my life I am living a life with and for God first and foremost. Secondly, I am making a life that is secure and stable for my children and I make no choice in my life that I do NOT think of my children first.

I have began a life where I know that one day someone will want to be like me because I am worth that…

So you see, I made those choices and I stand up to them. However, for some there is a part two…so read this…..

I chose drugs over my children…

Before I even realized it was happening I was addicted to pain pills & then to Meth and once it had its hold on me I didn’t have much of a choice of what I would choose other than Meth….

I chose a man over my children…

Being consumed with so much loss and drug addiction I chose him over them…

I chose a fast life over my children…

Losing my children, being consumed with both depression and drug addiction, and giving up I threw myself into the fastest lifestyle I could find….

I chose to bury my pain and anger at myself in drugs…

In the moments of reality when I would realized what I had lost and what I had done I was not ready to accept the responsibility for it so I would just turn around and bury myself right back into the drugs and chaos..

I chose to sleep with my 3rd cousin…

You can look down on me all you want to and in some ways I know its not entirely acceptable but it’s not as taboo as you might think. I don’t know how it happen, I don’t understand it either, but I do know that it is not illegal and by law can be married…..

I chose to let the depression eat away at my mind and soul and helped it along by doing more drugs…

Depression is something I didn’t realize could get out of such control. Add it with drug addiction and its almost unstoppable….

I chose to not go to court and get put into jail….

I got put into jail for something that wasn’t entirely my fault. Then I got out and didn’t go to court that was my fault.

I chose to not finish & follow up with my probation…

Now, this is where we need to get an understanding of what is currently going on, because sweet girl you do not have a clue! I did chose to not follow my probation and that is wrong and punishable by jail time. I didn’t just run out on it to be wild and free. I left because if I didn’t I was going to end up dead from drugs or something in the mix. I CHOSE TO GET SOBER AND CLEAN AND LIVE A LIFE WORTH LIVING and I couldn’t do that in Madison County.

I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE

I chose to not visit my children…

True. However, I was high and I would have rather them not seen me like that again.

I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE

I chose to let my children down..

By not showing up and it broke my heart into pieces because I know it broke theirs too. But I was getting high and they didn’t need to see me like that anymore.

I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE

I chose to break another promise to my children…

I promised them I wouldn’t leave them and I did. I broke that promise and many more. I relive them every day that I am not with them.

UNDERSTAND THAT!

I chose to move away from my children….

If I didn’t then I would NEVER be able to show them a mother to be proud of! I would have ended up dead! I had to move to save my own life!

I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE

I chose to leave my children behind….

I couldn’t fight for them with water beneath my feet. Leaving them behind was something that had to be done. I was drowning in fact. I have you to know that leaving them behind was a choice I made to better myself for them not one made because I am being selfish or do not care.

I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE

I chose to not fight for my children….

At the point of me getting out of jail because I was not ready nor able to be strong enough. But that has changed and I am living the kind of life that everyone has always said I never would or could. I am living and making the right choices. I didn’t fight for them then because it wasn’t time to. But times have changed now.

I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE

So you see I can and will make the right choices for myself and my children. I can and am becoming someone that it isn’t so bad to be like.

You don’t want to be me and I’m thankful for that, because there isn’t room for two. I am so much better than I was and becoming someone I have never been.

And I won’t apologize for that.

Send your text message and your threats but understand that who I was before? Is someone who didn’t always think things through and was afraid of life on her own.

I am no longer that girl, I am a whole nother woman.

You told me I should be scared of you; your highly mistaken!

See the difference between you and I?

I know what it feels like to lose everything you have ever held close to you, I have been homeless, terrified for my life, consumed by something deeper and darker than normal daily struggles, lived life with out the exact beings in my life that i always said i couldn’t live without, I have lived for 3 years in my own personal hell and then I have walked straight out of that hell on my own!

You have not been where I have been, gone through what I have gone through, made the choices i have made, been the person i have been, or become that woman I am today and will be in the future.

YOU ARE NOTHING LIKE ME NOR WILL YOU EVER BE!

So you are right on that one , sweet girl.

But you are wrong on another;

I should not be scared of you. You should be scared of me. Because another difference is

THOSE ARE MY CHILDREN NOT YOURS AND WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT. YOU WON’T HAVE A QUARTER OF THE FIGHT FOR THEM IN YOU LIKE I DO ME.

Don’t underestimate the woman “who just donates her overies”

See you soon enough.

As always,

I’ll be praying for you.

Sending my love thoughts, and prayers to you, J, and the kids.

Until next time

Chic_Sober

28 Questions Q26 | 06+18+19

Q26: What parts of yourself are you ashamed of? What does your reflection in the mirror show?

A26: I am not ashamed of anything! My reflection shows…….

OKAY, I need you to understand that I am not ashamed of a single thing! I have done what I have done and that is that. It has made me who I am and lead me to this place and time and I would not change that! Of course I would love to have my children but I know that this is the way God has intended for my life to go and that things will be as they should be when the time is right.

I was ashamed of my life 6 months ago but I am no longer ashamed of the fact that I did drugs or anything else that came with it. I have moved on from those dark days.

My reflection shows a woman of 31 years with tears, heartache, love, joy, struggles and dreams! It shows blue eyes that hold a million tears, a smile that is slowly becoming real again, and a person who truly wants the best for those around her. It shows someone who has been homeless and hungry, high and out of her mind, and most of all someone who has overcome the darkest days of her life thus so far!

My reflection someone I am proud to stare back at!

That is all for now

@chic_sober