Self-reflection invites self-awareness, and self-awareness enables you to better regulate your emotions.
From this, we can get a deeper understanding of why we feel the way we feel and make positive steps towards change and growth.
Better emotional regulation equates to less anxiety.
Less anxiety means a more peaceful, contented, and stress-free life.
Co-dependency is a learned set of behaviours, and can make you feel incredibly unappreciated, constantly seeking validation from something other than yourself.
More often than not, that validation is sought in SOMEONE else, leading to relationship enmeshment, dysfunction and in extreme cases can attract abusive partners. It also can lead to addiction problems. Co-dependency is something we rarely recognise in ourselves and it takes courage to ask these questions about ourselves.
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Here are 12 signs of co-dependent behaviours.
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How many apply to you...?
If you recognise these patterns in yourself it may well seem overwhelming and can sound insurmountable, but co-dependency can be overcome and you can enjoy healthy relationships, but these will only come from a place of loving yourself, a positive sense of self worth and and providing your own emotional anchors - all of these things are achievable with commitment to change, hard work and courage.
It is likely your co-dependent behaviours are learnt and this is often from childhood experience and trauma, sometimes before we are even 8 years old.
Recovery is a rewiring process that involves gaining a deeper understanding into your own experience, reconnecting to the parts of you that feel insecure and working on your own self worth, self-esteem and learning to provide a solid base for your sense of well being - so you can provide your own emotional safety and escape the need to have someone else make you feel emotionally regulated.
I hope you find the courage to explore this part of yourself and begin your journey to emotional freedom, it isn't found in changing your relationship or the way you look.
Emotional freedom comes from working on how you feel about yourself, and then working towards reframing and rebuilding how you think about yourself and your own sense of self worth, so you can experience loving healthy relationships with other people by learning to love yourself first.
