Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Hope

What I'm about to say is pretty much the whole point of my blog...but at the same time, I don't flat-out say it enough:

Recovery is possible.

On a daily basis, I think my heart breaks a little for all the girls and women out there (and boys and men too) who are struggling with eating disorders. I think I'd be in pieces if I wasn't able to turn my breaking heart into a force of positivity and support. I know so many wonderful people suffering from a disease they wish to control. I know so many beautiful people who don't see their own beauty. I know so many people who have so much to offer the world, but are at a loss when it comes to helping themselves.

I've been there. I stared anorexia in the face and it took me over for a while...until I decided to bite back and take my life into my own hands instead of passing it off to an illness that would have been only too happy to kill me. I know that's putting it simply. It's not an easy process and sometimes it gets more difficult instead of the other way around.

I get countless emails from people who have been touched (and by touched, I mean slammed) by an eating disorder. I ache to heal them, but know that it's not up to me. All I can offer is my support and my encouragement that it can be done. Recovery is possible.

At times, I feel like a little fairy who just spouts happy words of positivity and shows people the good in life like nothing bad ever happens--at least that's what I feel people must think of me at times.

In reality, I'm not a fairy and I'm not preachy. What I say and do is all about one word: HOPE.

I want to give hope.

That sentence above could have been something entirely different a few years ago. Change the last word and it would have been my state of mind: I want to give up.

That's no longer the case, obviously, but that journey from wanting to give up to wanting to give hope had a lot of stops in between. I wanted to get better. I wanted to get real. I wanted to get heard. I wanted to get a life. I wanted to get OUT. And when I did...when I did all of those things...I wanted to give hope.

Because it's not a fun journey, even though from time to time it has its little benefits and its little joys. A good trick is to make a celebration out of everything that could be uncomfortable or unsettling. You don't fit into your clothes anymore? Donate 'em! Call your nearest and dearest and have fun cutting a few choice pieces up and throwing the shreds like confetti! Take your mother or your sister or your best friend and head to your favorite and buy some new things that make you feel good! A little moral support can go a long way.

When things are too much, there is always hope. Hope is there and it will wait if you want to put it away until tomorrow when you have more energy. Hope is everlasting. Hope is the balm that can get you from one day to the next. And because hope is possible, recovery also is possible.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I am currently in the throes of an ED...going on 15 years now...and sometimes recovery just doesn't look possible. I've recently started reading tons of ED recovery blogs to maybe inspire the REAL me. I loved your post about hope. It's hard to hope for yourself, though. But I'll get there...one day.

Arielle Bair, MSW, LSW said...

Hi eoneal,

Hope can be elusive, especially on really bad days, but you also only need a glimmer of it to pull you out of a rough time. I'm sorry you're struggling right now, but I know that the real you, as you say, can get out of that hole. I'm sorry it's taken so long already and I know it must be quite a fight. I'm glad you liked the post and I hope you'll visit again. Thank you for your kind comment. Hang in there!

Much love,
Arielle

MrsMenopausal said...

You have a positive attitude that's contagious. I don't think that is fairy dust induced. ;) I think that you show a healthy balance of the good and bad of eating disorders with an emphasis on a positive approach to recovery. IMO it's inspiring.

Arielle Bair, MSW, LSW said...

Thank you, Mrs. M. I take that to heart.

Much love,
Arielle

Anonymous said...

Hope is the most important thing in life. If there is hope, there is happiness and good mood.

Arielle Bair, MSW, LSW said...

Jenna,

That's right! :) Glad you think so too. Thanks for visiting.

Much love,
Arielle