The Power Within: By Christine McFarlane

Eagle Painting I Did in 2010

The Power Is Within You:

In healing and recovery, it is integral that we learn to reclaim the power that we have inside, so that we can view the world in a better way. It is easy to get stuck in our pasts, and listen to the old tapes that we all have in our heads by giving them more power than they deserve. The trick is to not let that power overtake us and define how we go about our day.

Reclaiming our power is integral if we want to be able to move forward. I know that for me, even though I have been in recovery for a little over five years, I still have to consciously tell myself “I am okay” and that “there are good things in my life” and lastly” I don’t want to go back” to the way that I used to be.

I talk about reclaiming power because I still have a difficult time when I have slip-ups. When I feel off balance whether that is emotionally, physically, mentally or spiritually, I notice that it is harder for me to hold onto the power I know I have inside. I can let the power within me slide at the slightest thing. I am learning as a human, and as someone who is quite literally a perfectionist, that I can and need to change the way insecurity can affect me.

In reclaiming my power, I am recognizing that I am not the hurting person from years ago in the midst of my addictions-eating disorders and self-harm. I have the power to change how I see the world around me and how I live in it.  The power is within; you just have to believe.