“I would rather surround myself with people who make a lot of mistakes and have no problem admitting to them, than to surround myself with people who think they make none”
“You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them”
The difficult part about accepting the consequences of our actions after active addiction is coming to terms with the fact that we have to take ownership of our mistakes. It’s easy to feel like we are entitled to certain things, but it is important to remember that the world doesn’t owe us anything. Instead, it’s better to focus on the ways that we can pick up the pieces and move forward. Here are 6 tips for allowing yourself to accept the consequences of your actions:
1. Acknowledge your mistakes – Owning up to our mistakes is a important part of accepting the consequences of our actions. Recognizing what we did wrong, learning from it, and not repeating the same mistake is essential for personal growth.
2. Take responsibility – Taking ownership of our mistakes and understanding that we are responsible for our actions is important for building self-awareness and accountability. It’s OK to make mistakes, but it’s more important to take responsibility for them.
3. Learn from your experiences – It’s OK to feel down and disappointed, but it is important to use these emotions as fuel for learning. Use your experiences to develop a better understanding of yourself and the world around you.
4. Forgive yourself – Accepting what happened doesn’t necessarily mean that we can just forget about it and move on. Instead, it is important to practice self-forgiveness and understanding that we are only human.
5. Move forward – After taking inventory of the lessons learned, it’s time to focus on moving forward. Develop a plan for positive change and work hard to make sure that you follow through with it.
6. Be kind to yourself – It can be easy to get down on yourself during this process, so make sure that you take the time to be kind and gentle with yourself. Don’t forget that everyone makes mistakes, but it’s how we handle them that matters.
These tips are just a few of the ways in which you can accept the consequences of your actions and use them to move forward. Don’t forget that it’s OK to make mistakes, and you can use them as a way to learn more about yourself and grow. With patience, kindness and self-forgiveness, you can get back up and pick up the pieces.
Side Note:
When I started this journey, I had two DUI charges I was going to court for. I had a year of supervised probation for those charges. On top of that, I was in Intensive Outpatient Treatment with Family Preservation Services which is treatment through the Department of Social Services. TWO years total of taking drug screens and being held accountable.
In the beginning, I would think things like…
“Why me?”
“I know so many people that are way worse off and have done horrible things in front of their children and don’t have to do things that are this intense.”
“This is fucked, the system is fucked.”
“I was only doing harm to myself not anyone else.”
“I’ve always been there for my child, at least I never took her anywhere with me when I was getting high.”
“It’s just me that this shit happens to, I don’t understand.”
So basically, it was poor me. I found peace after I finally surrendered and accepted my consequences and understood that the world didn’t owe me anything. I HAD CHOSE THIS NO ONE DID THIS TO ME.
At the end of the day, one thing is certain: we all make mistakes. So why not just own up to them and move on? Owning our mistakes allows us to become better people and more conscientious about our actions. So, let’s just own our shit and move on!
Stay Strong!
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