Choosing Faith Over Fear

Our addictions and mental health issues are often related to our relationship to fear. When we become addicted to a behavior or thought pattern, it is often because we are looking for ways to suppress, bury or otherwise escape our fears. Many of us have experienced trauma in our lives, and our trauma can impact how we deal with fear. Anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses can be a manifestation of our built-up fears. We are often so afraid of our fears that we make them worse. We develop neuroses, complexes, obsessions and phobias. Our responses to fear, the ways we think about and deal with our fear, can have a lot to do with our addictions and mental/emotional health problems.

We find ourselves living in fear, and it can be a painful, distressing way to live. How can we change our response to fear and live with more peace, clarity and hope? We can start by making a conscious decision to choose faith instead of fear.

Having faith in our recovery means having faith in our higher power, faith in ourselves, faith in our ability to heal. Faith in the idea that we’re being supported on our journey, and that healing is in fact possible. Faith that we are more than our addiction and depression. Faith that we will find our way, that we will be able to live our truth and find fulfillment.

How do we actively choose faith? We can work on growing our faith by using affirmations, visualization and meditation. We can repeat statements affirming, “I have faith. I trust in my higher power. I have faith I will heal. I believe in myself. I believe in my recovery.” We can visualize ourselves being at peace, feeling trusting and confident, being sure and certain of our recovery. We can meditate using these affirmations and visualizations while holding our hands over our hearts and activating their powerful healing energy.

Changing our fear responses takes time and practice. We won’t rid ourselves of our fears immediately. When we are hit with anxiety and fearful thoughts, we can make a choice each time whether to respond to them with more anxiety and fear, or to reroute our thoughts to more positive, affirming ones instead. As we become more conscious of our thoughts and practice meditation, we realize we have more power to control the direction of our thoughts than we often think we do. Meditation also allows us to quiet the panic and noise in our minds and to prioritize feelings of wellbeing.

Our recovery can really benefit from holistic healing methods, and at Enlightened Solutions we’re here to help you find the ones that work for you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.