For many young adults, including my daughter, this is a time of great uncertainty, as they wait for letters from schools they applied to for the fall.
When you’re recovering from an eating disorder, many situations can cause feelings of uncertainty – with food and with other parts of life. For example, going to an event where you don’t have control over the food that will be served can create anxiety. We suggest bringing your own food as a back up, to either supplement or replace what’s offered.
It may be hard to imagine pulling out your own food in front of other people. Being willing to stand out, speak up, and take care of yourself is not easy. You may worry what other people will do, say or think in response.
Whether you have back up food or not, the key to facing the unknown in situations like these is to cultivate faith and trust that you will be okay – that you will be able to make the healthiest decision with what’s available to you.
You also need to find trust in your food plan, in the expertise of the dietician, therapist or sponsor, and that what you’re doing is working and it’s right for you. Working the 12 steps takes just as much trust. It’s about believing there is a path for you, even if you often don’t know what that path looks like.
The New Co-Dependency is a book we’ve been working on with groups at the White Picket Fence Counseling Center. Addressing co-dependency means you can let go of the desire to predict or control how others will react, or what will happen next in your life, and focus on making the best choices for you in each moment.
Have you ever felt like things were falling apart, only to discover something wonderful was around the corner? How do you cultivate trust that things will turn out okay?