The "Perfect" Recovery-Minded Person...

[Done-With-It!]

The "Perfect" Recovery-Minded Person...

How can you be the "perfect" recovery-minded person?

FIRST -- Accept that there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to recovery. There is no such thing as walking the "perfect recovery path" or in being the "perfect recovery-minded person".

• If you think having an ED sucks, and/or that it is doing harm to you, you are a recovery-minded person. Ask yourself, if you had a child, would you want them to have an ED? If not, you are a recovery-minded person.

SET healthy boundaries -- You can't support everyone, nor can everyone support you. You are not your friend's therapist, and they are not your therapist. Friends encourage each other to reach out for help, they don't enable each other to stay away from it.

FIND like-minded support -- Surround yourself with people who want the same things as you. Do you wish your ED on other people? Would you want a loved-one to justify their ED behaviors as okay? Then surround yourself with people who think the same, and who wouldn't wish their EDs on others, or justify the behaviors as fine.

BELIEVE that you deserve recovery (even when you don't want to believe it).

ERASE the thoughts in your mind that say "but it's different for me" -- While you are an individual, with your own issues that led to your ED, there is in no way you deserve it more, are justified more in the behaviors, are hurting yourself less than anyone else participating in the same behaviors, or that you deserve recovery less.

KNOW that in your heart (even when your mind sometimes disagrees), your ED behaviors are not going to get you to happiness, nor are they good for you in body, mind or soul.

BELIEVE that there is always something deeper going on -- EDs are never just about food and weight (even if you're having a hard time figuring out what it is). There are always emotional reasons why someone with an ED partakes in their unhealthy behaviors.

BE HONEST -- Lying to and hiding things from your loved-ones or the people who wish to support you, is not only hurtful to them, but to yourself most of all. It is also impossible to take responsibility for your life if you are not being honest about it. Taking responsibility and being accountable for your actions are part of walking the recovery path.

TRY your best. That is all anyone can expect from you, yourself included. Try your best to express your emotions. Try your best to find coping alternatives. Try your best to ask for help and support. Try your best not to beat yourself up when you're having a hard time (rather, challenge yourself to keep moving forward). And try your best to...

...DISCOVER who you are underneith all this time you've spent on being obsessed about food, weight and ED behaviors -- there's a person inside who is wondeful, and not so apt to waste their life being concerned about food, weight, how-to, why-to, etc. -- Who is that person? What are they feeling? What do they hate, like, love? And why do you like that person?

What do you like about yourself?

Being recovery-minded, is not about walking the "perfect" recovery road. It is not about never having hard times.

It is about knowing that having an Eating Disorder is not good for you... physically OR emotionally. It is about letting others challenge you to dig into the emotions that lie underneith your behaviors. It is about surrounding yourself with support that will always encourage you towards a life without an ED.

Why do you want to be recovery-minded?
Because who wants to waste any more of this short life focused on an Eating Disorder? Let's all encourage each other, ourselves most of all, to be free from the ED... to focus on truly living, on experiencing the ups and downs of life, on having healthy relationships with ourselves and others, on finding out who we are, and on finding our own way to personal happiness. REAL happiness ISN'T about what we weigh, what we look like, or what we do. It's about what we want and who we really are.

What do you want?
Who is the real you?

Take care of YOU

[Velvet]

It is about knowing that having an Eating Disorder is not good for you... physically OR emotionally. It is about letting others challenge you to dig into the emotions that lie underneith your behaviors. It is about surrounding yourself with support that will always encourage you towards a life without an ED.