Heal The Abuse - Recover Your Life Read Online Free

around with us. Until we finally choose
to put it down and empty it out, that sack continues to fill. When
it gets too heavy, we can’t lift it anymore, and we break down
emotionally.
    Dumping my emotional garbage is the best
feeling I’ve ever had. To be able to get through the day feeling
relatively carefree is an amazing gift. But it can only happen if
we continually work to release our negative feelings. When we stop
working our process, the garbage of our issues begins to refill
that bag.
    I want you to look honestly at your life and
try to identify if there are ways the abuse of your past still
affects your life today. I want you to come up with goals for your
recovery process. I want you to make a commitment that you will
never give up. The goals we set for ourselves are the path we take
out of despair and into a better future.
     
    Exercise 2-1
    Setting Goals
    -After reading the example on the following
page, set at least 5 goals for your healing process. Possibilities
might include having healthier relationships, going back to school,
quitting an addiction, or improving your self-esteem. Try to expand
each of the goals you set for yourself by answering the following
questions.
    1. What is my goal?
    2. How would my life change if I were to
accomplish this goal?
    3. Is this goal realistic? Do I have a
reasonable chance of success?
    4. What are the steps I must take in order to
bring this goal to fruition? (Think through every step you will
need to take on your path to success.)
    5. What are some of the things that might
frustrate my attempts to reach my goal? (Think about obstacles or
problems that may hinder your progress while you try to make this
goal a reality.)
    6. How much time will it realistically take
to accomplish my goal? (Goals usually take longer than we think
they will.)
    7. How much money will it realistically take
to accomplish my goal? (Goals often cost more money than we think
they will.)
    8. What kind of effort, patience, and
persistence must I exhibit to accomplish my goal?
    9. Can I make a commitment to following
through with my goal, regardless of the obstacles or frustrations I
will likely experience?
     
    Example of a Goal-Setting
Exercise :
    What follows below is an overly ambitious
example, but I hope it gives you an idea of how to break down our
goals into simple tasks we can accomplish on a daily basis. A
severely depressed person might answer the above questions in the
following way.
    1. My goal is to feel less depressed.
    2. I would take better care of myself, make
new friends, and get out more. I would feel happier, more
productive, lose or gain weight, have a cleaner house, and feel
increasingly motivated to succeed.
    3. This is a realistic goal if I am willing
to take better care of myself, exercise, work on positive thinking,
become more socially active, take antidepressant medication, and
pursue therapy.
    4. Day one: I will set my alarm and get out
of bed by 9:00 a.m. I will take a shower, comb my hair, change my
clothes, and make myself look nice instead of sleeping in or moping
around the house. I will take my dog for a walk and get out into
the sunlight. When I get back, I will look in the yellow pages for
a place to exercise.
    Day two: I will set my alarm and get out of
bed by 9:00 a.m. I will do all the things I did yesterday. I will
also call a gym about the cost of membership and visit that
facility to pay my fees or determine how much money I will need to
save. I will find a time that works for my schedule and start
working out as soon as possible.
    Day three: I will get out of bed by 9:00 a.m.
and do all the things I did for the past two days. Additionally, I
will make a trip to the bookstore to purchase a book on positive
thinking, such as The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent
Peale. I will set myself a goal of reading one chapter every day
before I go to work.
    Day four: I will get out of bed by 9:00 a.m.
and continue to do all the things I have been doing to