Why Being Honest Is Important For Your Recovery From Addiction

Honesty is the best policy, it is often said. An essential principle and practice for your recovery, honesty is important for staying sober.

NOT BEING HONEST TAKES A LOT OF ENERGY

Holding onto secrets, resentments, or denials, is exhausting. It isn’t uncommon to experience feelings of being weighed down, tired, or low energy when you aren’t being honest with yourself. The worst is when you aren’t aware you aren’t being honest with yourself and you’re doing it subconsciously. The truth sets you free, it is often said. With that logic, not telling the truth or admitting the truth to yourself is the opposite of freedom. Living in that kind of mental captivity takes a toll emotionally as well as physically. Not to mention, you’re living against your spiritual principles. Getting sober, working the 12 steps, and doing work in therapy aligns you with the spiritual principles which keep you progressing along a spiritual path, away from relapse. The reason step one includes getting honest about your inability to manage your drinking is because honesty is the first step in solving any problem. When you aren’t being honest, you aren’t living in the solution which means you’re holding onto a problem.

NOT BEING HONEST ISN’T AUTHENTIC

Living an authentic life is a major theme in spiritual development. It means developing a manner of living which is undisputed and genuine. Genuity is truthfulness. Not being honest with yourself is not being truthful to who you are, what you value, what you want, and what you need. Instead, you place deceit above honesty. You might not think it is too big of a deal, because you aren’t lying about drinking and using, because you aren’t drinking and using. However, the brain likes to notice negative behaviors over positive ones, meanings just a little bit of dishonesty could result in a slippery road toward other forms of dishonesty, like relapsing.

NOT BEING HONEST CAN ACTUALLY MAKE YOU SICK

There is an old saying that you’re only as sick as the secrets you keep. From step one, you’ve been committed to your honesty. Through step four, you divulged all of the hidden resentments and truths about your life you’ve been holding onto for so long. Step ten suggests you take a daily inventory of rights and wrongs, and when you’re wrong, the step encourages you to be honest about it and make amends immediately. You can’t afford to become sick from your secrets anymore because you’re working too hard to get well. Secrets are energy. Theories in holistic health believe that energy is stored in the body. Dishonesty can become toxic energy which can in turn make you mentally, physically, and spiritually sick.

Not being honest is a manifestation of addictive behaviors. Relapse happens. Addiction happens. If you are struggling to be honest with yourself about your need of help, you are not alone. Enlightened Solutions offers you a healing environment of compassionate care where your program of recovery is tailored to meet your needs mentally, physically, and spiritually.

For information, call us today: 833-801-5483.