Editor’s note: Liberty Forrest, author of several self-help books and a certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, reminds you that in recovery from a sociopath, faith and hope are crucial. Read more about Liberty.
By Liberty Forrest
If you’ve been dealing with the fallout of a relationship with a sociopath, or if you’re experiencing other challenges, things might feel awful for you right now. I hope not, but of course Life does have a way of being miserable sometimes. And in some cases, it can go on a very long time.
It’s not as miserable when you feel like you have some control over the situation…when you can actively do something to make it better, to change it in some way and get back to a happier place. But it really sucks when it’s pretty much out of your hands.
In those cases, all you can really do is change yourself, your own attitudes about what’s happening and your responses to it. Trust me, I do understand complete and utter despair. I’ve endured some of the worst heartache, the worst illness, and the worst fears (but thank heaven I’ve also been spared many others). I do know what it is to suffer, so I’m not just talking out of my hat (such a bizarre expression?!).
When Life is challenging, you’re facing an uphill climb, or you’re suffering, you’ve got to hang onto faith and hope. And if you’ve lost them, you’ve got to dig deep and find them again, even if it’s just the tiniest shred of each.
Although it doesn’t always feel like it, you have control over what goes on in your head. You can choose to think about how awful your situation is and how dark and miserable things are right now and how they’re just going to stay that way.
Read more: How to recover from the sociopath
Or you can look ahead and have faith that things will change, that the Wheel of Life will soon begin to turn in your favour again. You can trust that there will be a bit of good news tomorrow or next week, and that you’ll soon see the first signs of improvement in your situation. Because that time will come, you know. Nothing stays the same forever. And if you’re like I used to be, you’ll say, “Yeah, I know. It can get worse!”
And yes, that’s true. It can. But equally, it also means that things can get better. If you’re gonna give some time and energy to the negative, the positive deserves at least the same attention. Be fair and give it equal time. Better yet, give it more.
Then find a little hope. If you’ve lost that too, then make some more. You do it by remembering other times when things were dark and horrible, but then they got better. Come on, don’t tell me that every single minute of your whole existence since birth has been awful. Even if there has been a lot of misery and if there have been many hardships, some of them will have made room for brighter days in the past.
And I’ll bet that when you were in the soup back then, you might not have thought it would ever get better. But it did.
And it’ll get better again. You create faith and you create hope by choosing to welcome them into your thoughts, by opening your mind, your heart, and your life to them and telling yourself – no, by insisting – that your situation will improve and that you will keep going until that happens.
Learn more: Self-forgiveness — understanding and letting go of guilt
Even in terminal illness there is room for faith and hope. Have faith in the strength of your spirit’s ability to face what lies ahead, to accept the situation and find peace. Have hope that your suffering will be eased, that you will find comfort in your spiritual beliefs or in being with loved ones during this very difficult time.Â
The Universe doesn’t always give us what we want. But it always gives us what we need. And in recovery from a sociopath, faith and hope, strength and courage make the difference. Even if you have to look for them, you will always find them because they lie in your ability to choose them.Â
This article was originally published at LibertyForrest.com. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Sociopath reveals her disorder in her email address