We need to talk about motivation for getting through withdrawal.
I’m now offering coaching sessions for those going through withdrawal. If you’d like someone to walk with you through this season, I would love to meet with you. My withdrawal was brutal. I know how dark it can get. I also know how real healing is. I’m now in a place of joy, health, and full life, and I want to support you on your way there.
👉 Go here to see my calendar and schedule a session
Why Motivation Matters in Withdrawal
Motivation is crucial in withdrawal because so much of life can get stripped away, depending on how severe and how long symptoms last. Your waking hours can feel filled with withdrawal, thinking about it, reading about it, experiencing it. You may lose a job or work very little. Hobbies and social life can fade. You can start to wonder about your self-worth and purpose.
I want to share what I learned: things that helped me cope and keep going.
Finding Self-Worth During Withdrawal
Many of us tie self-worth to being smart, productive, funny, or skilled. In withdrawal, I could hardly think. I couldn’t read. Thoughts looped. I couldn’t work. I didn’t feel funny. Hobbies and passions felt wiped away. What was my worth besides withdrawal?
I came down to this: I am human. As a Christian, I believe humans have intrinsic worth because God made us and loves us. Even when everything else seems gone, that can’t be taken away. You are human. You are loved. That truth stands whether or not you can do the “cool, awesome things” you did before.
Rediscovering Purpose When Life Feels Reduced
Purpose is hard when you can’t do much. Sometimes not even ordinary things like cooking, working, or cleaning. I had so much time and so little I could do with it. My existence felt purposeless, just suffering.
In a PAWS (protracted acute withdrawal syndrome) group I was part of, we were asked our motivation for getting through this. Many of us said it was to remain here for the people we love who would be deeply hurt if we weren’t. We wept together realizing that.
The Power of Love and Connection
That realization is a tremendous purpose. Throughout history, wars, plagues, hardships, people have kept going because they loved someone. Who do you love? Family, friends, your partner, nieces or nephews, even your dogs. Your life matters to them.
It also matters to people in these groups who need hope. I told myself: if my story helps even one person keep going, it’s worth it. You never know how your story might change someone’s life.
Your life is valuable even when you’re not productive and even when you’re suffering. Choosing to continue is an act of love. Small acts of kindness. Smiling at someone, sending an encouraging text, can give purpose. Love makes the world go round, and those who’ve suffered might be the ones who make the world kinder. This hard time may transform you into a more loving person.
My encouragement is this: love can carry you, God loves you, you have purpose, and your body is healing. You can come through this and live well and joyfully. Take hope: you have purpose and hope.
If you want to meet with me, sign up here. I’m backing you up and cheering for your healing. May you have amazing windows and feel much better soon.