One of the greatest gifts of co-sex addiction recovery, or any authentic self-healing and empowerment journey, is learning self-love and compassion. In 12 step recovery, we begin to identify old addictive behaviors and learn new, boundaried behaviors with ourselves and others.

There will be setbacks and mistakes that we make along the way. Step 10 allows for us to acknowledge our errors and hurtful behaviors and to make amends to ourselves and others. Often, we make the same mistakes again and again as we learn our wounds take time to fully identify, embrace and heal.

In our courageous journey to emotional and spiritual maturity, we walk through our own shame, fear and perfectionism over and over again. In this learning, we are able to distinguish that while we make mistakes, we are NOT a mistake. There is a deepened understanding of humility and our own self-acceptance, with all of our warts, defects, shadows, etc., and we are able to receive mercy and acceptance from our Divine Source and from ourselves.

This deep level of self-love, self-forgiveness, self-compassion allows for a deep reserve of compassion, forgiveness and love that we are able to give to others as we have come to know and feel it in our own cells.

So, today....I celebrate my mistakes, my imperfections and my own shadows. As I seek the showering of compassion and forgiveness for my own imperfections, I learn how to provide this care to others. The awareness of these characteristics within myself and the experience of self-love, acceptance and forgiveness will allow me to give from the most authentic pool of compassion and forgiveness to others. I give this with authentic humility and joy.

With love,

Sally