There comes a moment, and it’s often a little bit uncomfortable, when you see yourself clearly. And I don’t mean when you look in the mirror, I’m referring to seeing yourself clearly through your actions.
The most important relationship you’ll ever have is the one you have with yourself. And being honest with yourself doesn’t mean being hard on yourself. It’s not about blame, shame, or guilt. It’s about meeting yourself with compassion and curiosity in a truthful way. Uncovering what’s really going on for you when you pour a drink and facing that, rather than trying to turn away.
Honesty With Compassion Sets You Free
Being honest with yourself is really healing when you approach it with a good dose of self-compassion. There’s no room for getting “judgey” here! Honesty, when done with compassion, sets you free.
So, what might honesty sound like? It might be something like:
“I feel a bit out of control when I drink, and that scares me.”
Or maybe:
“I want to change, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to cope without drinking alcohol.”
And by the way, these thoughts aren’t because you’re weak-minded. They actually mean you are awake. And being awake is the first step towards transforming.
The Relationship You Build With Yourself Matters
This is important because the relationship you have with yourself matters. Think about it, you spend your entire life with yourself, don’t you? That means that when you build a strong relationship with yourself it becomes a firm foundation for all other aspects of your life.
It becomes easy to set and maintain boundaries. You know what you really want. You make choices that reflect who you are. Being honest with yourself gives you clarity. And clarity definitely is power.
Being honest with yourself doesn’t mean you have to go about confessing everything to everyone. Neither does it mean that you have to dissect every decision you’ve made in the past. What it does mean is that you choose presence over denial. It’s saying:
“Yeah, ok, I’m noticing that I feel like I want a drink now.” Instead of pretending that you don’t.
It’s asking yourself, “So, what specifically do I actually need in this moment?” and paying attention to the answer, even if it feels a bit uncomfortable.
And if you slip up, because you might. You and I are humans after all. It’s saying:
“Yep, so that happened. What can I learn from this?” Instead of slipping into blame, shame, and guilt-tripping yourself.
Shining a Light on the Unconscious
At Unconscious Moderation, there’s zero judgment and heaps and heaps of support. Because we know that being honest with yourself is the beginning of everything and the tools that we have on the app are designed to meet you where you are.
I think it was Carl Jung who famously said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.” And that’s what being honest with yourself does. It shines a light on that unconscious stuff. And what you illuminate may surprise you. It might bring insight, wisdom, and strength. It’s all there waiting to be uncovered.
You are the one person you’ll never break up with. So maybe the next time you notice the old habit speaking to you. Maybe you could stop, pause, listen, and ask yourself, “What’s really going on here? How do I really feel? What do I really need?”
Remember at Unconscious Moderation we are here to support you. To find out more head over to the app now.
