If you grew up with an alcoholic parent and you now feel less than happy about your life as an adult, I get it. I’ve been there. But what if I told you it’s simple to get started on your journey to get unstuck. Picture this: You are giving a chef’s kiss into the air, smitten with everything you accomplished and all the progress you made in healing.
The difference between a sucky or mediocre year and a life-changing one comes down to your beliefs.
What you believe becomes your reality.
If you believe this year is going be yet another year in which nothing changes, it will. You’ll keep ignoring that nagging feeling that you deserve so much more in life. You’ll keep feeling stuck without a clue about how to change it.
When are you going to give improving your life a real whirl?
If you believe you’ll heal this year, you will. If you believe you’ll discover the steps you need to take in your journey, you will.
The first step is clearing your throat and saying, “This year, I am healing from the past and creating a life I love!”
The only thing certain about life is that you can’t predict it. There will never be an ideal time to do any of this. So, do it now.
Once you press start on all this adult child of an alcoholic healing stuff, incredible things happen. I’ve heard stories from thousands of adult children of alcoholics and people who grew up in other types of dysfunctional environments whose lives dramatically changed for the better once they finally decided they deserved it. It’s freaky how much life can change. I did it. They did it. And you will, too.
The second, most important step is to plan how you’re going to do it.
This year, it’s time to put the work in, invest the time and energy, even if you only have a little bit to give. All you have 20 minutes per day? That’s 20 minutes per day you didn’t give last year.
Systems > intentions all day, e’ry day. Figure out what you can do to give to your healing and stick to it.
Back in 2009, when I started my journey to heal from my experiences growing up with an alcoholic parent, I couldn’t see any way out of feeling trapped. I felt miserable and hopeless. For as long as I could remember, I’d been focused on getting my mom to stop drinking. After 26 years of trying – and failing again and again – to achieve this goal, I was beaten down and deeply, can’t-get-out-of-bed depressed.
It all seemed so simple: Mom, Dad, my sister and I could live happily ever after, if Mom stopped drinking. What I didn’t realize until my rock-bottom point was that:
• I couldn’t cure my mom of her substance use disorder.
• It wasn’t my job to do so anyway.
• In the process of trying to save her, I’d become very ill myself and wasn’t really living at all.
Outside of my immediate family, everyone around me appeared to be happy, healthy and looking forward to the future. I felt I’d been dealt a terrible set of cards in life and I had no control of anything. Every morning, I woke with crippling dread. I knew I couldn’t go on that way.
Finally, out of desperation, I started focusing on me for the first time in my life. Little by little, I felt hope return. Over this 15-year journey, I’ve put in a lot of time and effort to heal and keep growing. Now I freaking love my life – a life 26-year-old me couldn’t have envisioned back in the dark days.
I am living proof that your life can change in ways that you can’t see today. Trust that you will have a life you love and you will. I’ve learned so much about healing and personal growth and I’m thrilled to share everything I’ve learned.
If you’re just getting started, I created this guide for you:
You’re on your way.
