What Would You do if You Weren’t Afraid?
Excerpt from Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder: Reclaim Yourself, Regain Your Health, Recover For Good by Johanna S Kandel
If a genie appeared and told you that for one day you would know no fear, what would you do? I have posed that question to members of my support group many times, and their answers are always both insightful and enlightening. No one says he or she is going to climb up the outside of the Empire State Building like Spiderman or bungee jump off a bridge. Instead their answers are more like:
- I’d take more risks
- I’d use my voice
- I’d take care of myself
- I would allow myself to dream
- I would nourish myself
- I would tell myself I was worth it
- I would do what I really wanted to do
- I would stand up for myself
- I would believe in myself
What are you most afraid of, and what would you do if you had no fear for even one day? Take a moment to write down all the things you would do if you weren’t afraid.
Make sure to keep your eating disorder and negative voice out of the list-making process. When you have completed your list make sure to leave plenty of extra room below. You will need that room to add to the list as you accomplish some of your goals and start to create new ones. And know that one day down the road to recovery, doing those things won’t seem as impossible as they might now. In fact, you will be able to look at your list and realize how far you’ve come. Remember, no one is expecting you to conquer all your fears yesterday. This is a journey that starts with your readiness to imagine your life without an eating disorder, and your willingness to try something new and different.
© Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder, Johanna S. Kandel, Harlequin September 2010
Want to read more of Johanna Kandel's work? Enter the free book drawing she is offering. (Drawing information and entry directions listed in far right column of Recovery Books Directory page)
Purchase Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder here: Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder: Reclaim Yourself, Regain Your Health, Recover for Good
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