Don’t Silence That Voice!
It is important for us to come together and share our experience so we can learn to deal with things as a community. The more we stand together to fight issues and help work on causes the easier it will be to finds ways to get through what we are facing today. It is not about being independent and standing alone, what makes us strong is standing together and admitting it won’t work on our own!
The other evening I was speaking on a panel in front of a community forum. It was great to be invited to talk to parents, students and other members wanting some awareness about prevention and recovery. What’s going to move us from the problem to focusing on the solution is communication. We spend so much time ruminating on the problem that we forget to focus on the solution. By me focusing on the solution today, I love my life. I am a recovery advocate, daughter, sister, friend, I’m a grateful woman in recovery and I get to be me. One of the key reasons I get to be all these things today is because I decided to talk about it. We spend so much time trying to hide the truth that when it surfaces we have not prepared ways to handle it. It is time to prepare.
Reach out your hand and talk to somebody! We are all touched by addiction. Whether it’s family members, love ones and friends. Maybe even “friends of a friend” everyone is affected by this mental health disease. I have a feeling there are people out there that are struggling with these problems right now. Probably feeling alone and that no one can understand what it is they are dealing with at this moment. Their case is unique. I am here to tell you there are many people experiencing the same thing. If we start talking to each other about this more often we will come to terms with this reality. Not only would it be good to recognize we are not alone but now we also gain the opportunity to save lives through this awareness.
This moves me to say, I bet there are many people who have thought about speaking up and telling someone about what is going on, or wanted to ask advice for someone they know and don’t exactly understand the options available to help someone. Something quiets this voice. By that happening, the illusion of being alone continues to be a stigmatized reality. So I am here to say don’t silence that voice, talk about this. Step into the real life picture and come to terms with the fact you are not alone and truthfully we are all trying to get through similar types of situations. What you will realize in talking with each other is those people you wanted to talk to about this actually wanted to talk to you about it as well. In doing so, a lot of heads is better then one and therefore solutions to the issues we face will become more readily available allowing us to continue building the recovery movement.
Thank you for continuing to read my blog. Also, please check out my other fellow advocate’s blogs! Heroes in Recovery is a movement designed to break the stigma associated with addiction and mental health. We do many things to support this mission including asking people to share their recovery stories with us. We also host various events around the country including our Heroes in Recovery 6k run/walk series. These focus on working with communities to raise awareness and break the stigma and motivating others to get involved.
You can visit Heroes in Recovery or reach out to me on Facebook and I can personally help you get started.
Godspeed,
Hillary