Honor Your Feelings This Christmas
“Codependents often minimize, alter or deny how they truly feel. In recovery I embrace my feelings; they are valid and important.” Recovery Patterns of Codependence During the Holiday Season it can be easy to rely on old coping techniques to get us through difficult gatherings. One of the patterns that saved us during childhood was learning to deny, alter or minimize our feelings. This is a functional survival technique for a child who is unable to otherwise protect him/her self from emotional abuse. But it is a dysfunctional escape technique for adults who want to simply run away from reality. It’s important that we own our feelings. Every feeling we experience awakens us and brings us back into real life. In addition to adding necessary color to life, feelings guide us. They are our inner-compass. Feelings guide us into proper patterns of behavior and help us to set good boundaries. Feelings also help us to be true to ourselves. When we honor our feelings we hon...