Today, I am able to live with my fear that I will not like myself or those close to me if I change or if they change. Change is threatening, and recovery includes many transformations and new choices. It doesn’t seem to matter to my fearful self if the change is for the better or worse, in fact, change for the better can sometimes feel even more threatening. Some of the changes I am undergoing make me feel lonely because I am seeing things I didn’t see before. My family isn’t necessarily changing with me and they even feel alienated by some of the changes I’m making. It is hard for me to let them grow at their own pace when I am changing so fast. I will remind myself today that I can only grow for me, that I do not need to amputate relationships with those I love because they aren’t changing in the ways I want them to. They have their own Higher Power and it’s not me. I can still love who I want or need to love AND have my new life and sense of self, I just can’t expect them to understand, want to commend or even see the new me. They will see what they see, or not, depending on who they are, not on who I am.

I can forgive people for not being who I want them to be

A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her.

David Brinkley