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We can feel our feelings, talk about our fears, accept ourselves and our present conditions, and then get started on the journey ...

competition, "protects supply." Mutual integrity preserved. One partner's needs suspended for the other's; self-deprivation. Wil ...

Live Your Own Life Live and let live. Twelve Step program slogan If I make one point in this book, I hope it is that the surest ...

for something. I matter. My feelings can be trusted. My thinking is appropriate. I value my wants and needs. I do not deserve an ...

need to read a meditation or inspirational book. Are we worried about a physical problem? Maybe we need to go to a doctor. Are t ...

wouldn't dream of loving or treating other people the way we treat ourselves. We wouldn't dare, and others probably wouldn't let ...

As codependents, we frequently dislike ourselves so much that we believe it's wrong to take ourselves into account, in other wor ...

selves, with all our faults, foibles, strong points, weak points, feelings, thoughts, and everything else. It's the best thing w ...

We need to value ourselves and make decisions and choices that enhance our self-esteem. "Each time you learn to act as if you ar ...

Activity How do you feel about yourself? Write about it. Include the things you like or don't like about yourself. Reread what ...

Perhaps the most painful loss many codependents face is the loss of our dreams, the hopeful and sometimes idealistic expectation ...

Accept reality? Half the time we don't even know what reality is. We're lied to; we lie to ourselves; and our heads are spinning ...

The first stage is denial. This is a state of shock, numbness, panic, and general refusal to accept or acknowledge reality. We d ...

intervention, we need to seek professional help. Bargaining After we have calmed down, we attempt to strike a bargain with lif ...

person or a chemically dependent person may be in many stages of the grief process for several losses, all during the same time. ...

Page 141 13 Feel Your Own Feelings When I repress my emotions, my stomach keeps score... 1 John Powell ''I used to facilitate gr ...

Page 143 thought would rip the top of my head off. But it worked. I experienced my first days and months of sobriety. Then, it c ...

denial stage of the grief processcan lead us page_144 Page 145 into trouble with overeating, undereating, alcohol and other drug ...

play. We still don't judge ourselves for having the feeling. We decide what, if anything, we want to do about the feeling and th ...

followed by sad feelings, because that is the page_148 Page 149 way it has usually happened in the past. Some codependents belie ...