The word addiction comes from the Latin addicere, ‘to surrender oneself.’ The opposite of surrender is to conquer, from the Old French conquerre, ‘to overcome.’
If you talk to enough addicts, or work with them as I do, you will notice a common current running through our stories: we lived through painful events that left us feeling powerless over our lives.
Overcoming addiction for me was about taking back control of my life, and in order to do this, I had to empower myself to the point where what was inside of me was stronger than what was outside of me.
In short, healing from mental health struggles is about self-empowerment.
And the road to empowerment is paved with choices.
Self-empowerment is intimately connected to sovereignty, that state where we are in control of our lives, where ‘we decide.’
Sovereignty is my word of the year for 2023. Addicts may be a glaring example of the need to take back one’s power, but there are many ways in which we have surrendered our power in our society. To that extent, we are all addicts, and we all need to call our power back.
We create our lives, and co-create our world, by the decisions we make.
Choice is our superpower.
Let’s choose to be the formidable force of creation we were born to be.
I love this! Often, there is confusion around the concept of ‘powerlessness’ in the substance use realm. Nobody likes to feel or be labeled as powerless. We are NOT powerless over the choices that we make, though. In recovery, we can, and do, make healthy choices that empower us for productive, passionate, and fulfilling lives. Not only am I personally seeking sovereignty in my journey, but my organization is seeking sovereignty in helping individuals discover trailheads for out-of-the-box recovery pathways. What you do, Margo, is so aligned with this…owning your unique and incredible journey of wellness! Thanks for what you do!