Quote

I'm not usually a big quote person, but instead of art today I'm sharing a quote that I saw that I thought coincided very well with what I've been talking about at the partial program.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." 

                          - Confucius

DBT is all about paying attention to our emotions and preventing big falls and being able to pull ourselves back up again. Slipping a little isn't the end of the world, we can notice that we are slipping and stop it before it spirals out of control.

I asked my clinician at the partial program if I practiced and used my DBT skills whether I would be OK. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't expecting her to say yes, and when she did I started crying. I have this huge fear that I'm never going to get better so nothing that I do can control the outcome. Every time I slip downwards I believe that there's no point in trying to get back up. But when she told me that if I do this, then I'll be OK, it was the first time I actually believed it. People say "It will be OK" a lot, but this time I believed it and I felt a relief that I can't really explain. I've held the belief that I can never be OK for so long that I didn't even realize that it was a distorted thought. It never occurred to me to question and challenge that thought until yesterday. It's such strange feeling to actually feel like I have control over my recovery but it feels good and empowering.