Recovery is possible.
It’s not a guarantee. It’s a possibility.
It’s not simple. It is difficult and sometimes seems impossible.
It’s not a one-step process. It’s a multi-step process complete with twists and turns and bending roads…and roads I didn’t even know were there.
It’s not the same for everyone.
It’s not always a happy process. It’s not always a sad process.
It IS empowering.
It’s not about pleasing other people. It is not about them.
It’s about ME.
It’s not about perfection. It IS about emotion. It IS about honesty. It IS about self-discovery and self-affirmation.
It’s not about what I don’t have. It’s about using what I’ve got.
It’s not about hiding. It’s about finding and displaying.
It’s not a quick-fix. It’s a lifelong plan set into motion by truth and nurturing and self-love.
It’s not about external factors or environment. It IS about what’s within.
It is not crazy. It IS real.
Recovery is possible.
Coffee Addict 
GRETA. Your style is always impeccable. Can I get a PJ bottoms snapshot to prove you are human?! Just kidding 🙂
Thank you for this post. It is so meaningful to me right now, as I am re-entering treatment tomorrow. The perfect you-go-girl post.
Hihihi! “PJ bottoms”!!! Hihihi! You are funny-Jeni!
I really hope that tomorrow/today’s (?) meeting will be momentous for you and your so fabulous life soon will be fabulous-er! (Creating new words is Missy’s fault! I have nothing to do with that 😀 )
That is a beautiful shot 🙂 I agree with the above, impeccable style!
I’m putting you on my blogroll 🙂 xx
Thank you, lovely Emma!
Wow wow, is that you in the photo? *_*
Thank you for this wonderful and encouraging post!
That’s one of my favorite pictures ever. I’d used it couple of times here, so do not judge me on the thing being like five months old. The Ritz hotel in Stockholm. I had an amazing time there.
Greta,
I just spent some time reading your blog from the beginning. I thought your blog started last dec. and had read from there a couple months ago, but today I saw that it started in June 2011. Or did those early months just appear here?…. So I read the june, Sept. Oct. posts and was deeply moved by all that you went through and shared. You have a lot of wisdom that you shared and a lot of real stuff that has challenged you. It was wonderful to learn more about you personally. It gives me strength…so even though you didn’t have tons of people commenting, it is still helping others.
Your post titled ‘recovery bloating’ really was good for me to read. I don’t fear weight gain but I do fear the ugly face bloat the constipation and lethargy and ballooning up in the tummy that I think will be inevitable when I stop b/p….Your post cast the bloat in a different light even naming it recovery bloating and reminding me that it will be temporary. My fear is that it won’t be temporary. Hearing from you from someone who has gone through it and gotten past it is helpful.
Also the different things you wrote about that you have experimented with to find a way of eating that is healthy for you and that doesn’t trigger binges. Good to see how someone finds a way that is tailored to you. It’s an ongoing changing process isn’t it?
Thank you.
Well, yes Angela, I’ve come to the word press from the blogger.com where I’d started my ramblings. I think I have to go back and reread my posts as I’ve forgotten about the things or triggers I had been writing back then. So even it was just 6-7 months ago, it seems like ages. Yay for my so fast progress!
Oh God, the bloating is a hell! I forgot how much I’d cried about it, making things even worse.
As for the eating – that’s true. I have experimented a lot. I believe that there’s no right food philosophy especial for people who have issues with all and any food while using (or not) it for the wrong purposes. I’ve met a lady on the net who ate just meat, with some greens, because anything else was triggering her binges – and she believed it’s the only way to go though in her recovery journey. I’ve got comments on being wrong eating low carb and completely excluding some of the food groups from my diet. However I’m sorry that those just do not work for me (yet)
I guess when I have time I’ll dig into my old post and refresh them. Because as I’ve wrote “Recovery is not always a happy process”
xo.
It is NOT possible.. per my interpretation. “Recovery” results from something that is BAD. My eating disorder, no less debilitating than was/is yours, is/was not BAD. My eating disorder is a crucial apart of me, and it makes me special. It makes me stronger. It makes me who I am. It doesn’t make me a sap who hopes, dreams, and wishes, whilst collecting from the government (I know, not you – you work, but others, yes). It makes me an objectivist who realises, reacts, and devices schemes for combatting. As much as I respect your stance (mainly because I appreciate your beauty and zest for fashion), I am disheartened by your softness (not physically!) to believe in something like Santa Clause. Believing in recovery from an Eating Disorder is like believing that Santa Clause will delivery presents by way of the chimney each Christmas Eve. It ain’t gonna happen. Thus, it must be managed. Parents must deliver the presents. And the eating disordered person of subject must deal. So regardless if you believe in my philosophy, I urge you to stop playing make believe. Because “recovery” is make believe.
Ugh! Please pardon my grammatical errors in this comment!!! I was having wine last night whilst writing it! 😀 I’m such a damn wannabe philosopher when I enjoy my red, so just please ignore my comment if it’s troubling… or respond if you should wish to have a discussion. I am curious to know your thoughts, but I in no way wish to start drama (with you) based on my strictness of thought. xo
Yeap! This one was hurtful. But hell with it.
I’m sorry that “miracles” happen in my life, Nicole. And yes; there are days I think recovery is bullshit and if I let those ideas to invade my life and taunt my faith, I’ll be at the square one within the minutes. I have faith in life and I want anyone stopping by at my blog to have it too.
Life exists.
You have no argument from me on that.
It makes me realize how far I’ve come in my own recovery when I can read people’s comments about how recovery being bullshit and I just think: wrong! ha-ha. Stay strong, Greta. You know the truth.
This is so nice to hear, Lola. I hope you’re having a wonderful journey to your amazing self.
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Recovery is possible, Greta!!! I know because I’m living it. Is it easy? No. But it is definitely worth it!!!
You — and I — will recover. Please don’t believe otherwise. Please.
Thank you for encouraging and believing in me!
What do we mean when we say ‘recovery’? or ‘recovery is possible’?…..it seems clear to me that people mean different things. And if we have different meanings for it then that can set us up for disagreements.
What Greta’s post here says about recovery to me is her definition of what recovery is and is not….for her. I can totally relate to everything she writes here. Each and every thing that she says are possible are indeed possible when one is abstinent and working on recovery of those things. They are not fantasies.
But I can also say that I agree with others who say that once we have a disease of addiction we will always have it. But there is are vast differences between actively engaging in the addiction and being abstinent while being in a process of recovery. I just see it as an ongoing process that is very individual and includes many/all aspects of our being and development….all of which are usually stunted when we are actively engaged in addiction.
I don’t use the word ‘recovery’ to mean I am done with a problem. I also don’t think being in recovery means everything will be easy and peachy.
I just wish we could all try to hear how others are meaning things and not assume our own definitions are the same as others….I mean what’s more important being right or empathizing with each other celebrating our progress over this very difficult disease?
Those thoughts are golden, Gel.
I do doubt in the “recovered” thing. As I fully understand that you can’t just amazingly erase the half of ones (my in this case) life. ED leaves its mark for good. But I believe in recovery as a progress. That was my point here.