Finding happiness is like finding yourself. You don’t find happiness, you make happiness. You choose happiness. Self-actualization is a process of discovering who you are, who you want to be and paving the way to happiness by doing what brings YOU the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run.
David Leonhardt
Dear Readers,
Another fabulous bulimia recovery series from Bulimia Help with the famed and brilliant recovery coach/warrior Catherine Liberty- ‘Do you wish you were happier in recovery’? Catherine has been working as a Recovery Coach at Bulimia Help for over 5 years now and has a really powerful insight into the recovery process.
It’s no secret that when you have fully recovered from bulimia you are going to find yourself feeling happier, healthier and more alive than ever before – and let me tell you, life after bulimia is going to exceed all of your expectations!
But what about your feelings right now in this moment?
Do you wish you were happier in recovery?
As a recovery coach one of the most common questions I’m asked by people is “why do I feel so emotionally unstable and unhappy in recovery?”
In truth, it is extremely common to experience an increase in mood swings, anger, frustration and sensitivity at the start of your recovery, so I promise you that you’re not alone if you feel this way.
I remember bursting into tears all of the time when I first started to recover, it was like I’d lost all ability to cope with my emotions, everything just felt so intense and overwhelming. But the important thing to know is that experiencing extreme emotional states is not a sign of weakness, nor is it a reflection on your ability to recover from bulimia. It is simply a natural, and temporary part of the healing process.
As you probably know from your own experience with bulimia, a lot of the time the physical act of binge eating and purging is used as a way to mask, numb and distract from painful emotional states, so it makes sense that when you first start learning to live without bulimia for the very first time, life is going to feel especially painful, possibly even unbearable.
The good news is that moods tend to naturally balance out after a couple of months of sticking to structured eating but that doesn’t mean you have to sit around feeling miserable right now. There are some practical steps that can help you to feel happier in your recovery and over the next few weeks i’m going to be sharing some of my favourite tried and tested strategies for finding more happiness and peace in recovery with you.
Of course no one is completely happy 100% of the time, that is not the goal here, but researchers have suggested that as much as 40% of our overall happiness can be accounted for by intentional activity.
(Lyubomirsky, Sheldon & Schkade, 2005).
Please look out for next few blog posts if you’re interested in taking positive action to improve your mood and overall well-being in recovery.
Why not Sign up for One to One with Catherine Liberty? Click here to learn more.
