How Remembering Brings Healing

I remember what it was like to be a drunk and try to hide it behind the nice house, successful business, and going to school to “become more”.  It’s exhausting.  More poignantly, I remember the guilt and shame of relapse.  I remember it when I have the inclination to think that I can have a drink like a normal person.  It may start out that way, but it doesn’t stay that way, and before long, I am eyeballs deep in the alcohol and all the neurosis that go along with it. 

I remember what it was like, but I don’t get stuck in the memory because I’m not in a fight with my addiction anymore.  I don’t need to double down on my efforts to stay sober when I remember who I was.  I’m simply not that person anymore, and if I get stuck in the memory, there’s a really, really good chance that I will become that person again. It feels way better to just go with the flow of who I’ve become and what I am becoming. 

For so long, we’ve treated healing — especially addiction recovery — like a battle we’re supposed to win through force, willpower, and white-knuckling. In treatment centers, I watched people try to fight their way out of their pain, believing that if they just worked harder, pushed harder, or “got it together,” they would finally break free.

But healing doesn’t happen to you.
Healing happens through you.

And one of the most powerful portals into that healing is remembering.

Not re-living.
Not drowning in the past.
Not staying stuck in old stories.
But remembering — with awareness, with compassion, and with curiosity.

Because when the memories surface — the old wounds you thought you buried, the flashes of pain you hoped were gone, the sudden “Why am I feeling this again?” moments aren’t a setback, punishment, or you “going backwards.”

It’s your soul saying,
“Stop fighting… I’m trying to help you from the inside out.”

When those memories surge up — the ancient hurts, the echoes of stories time didn’t erase, the emotional déjà vu that comes out of nowhere — this is your inner wisdom awakening. It’s the deeper part of you whispering through the veil,
“I’m revealing what’s ready to be released, so you can ShNe brighter than before.”

In addiction, trauma, survival mode, and even everyday overwhelm, we learn to disconnect from ourselves. We stuff things down just to get through life. But the body remembers. The energy remembers. And eventually, what was pushed away returns — not to shame you, but to free you.

These moments aren’t breakdowns.
They’re breakthroughs.
They’re invitations.

They’re portals opening, guiding you back to the parts of yourself that are ready — finally ready — to be healed, integrated, and transformed.

Healing isn’t about defeating your past; it’s about listening to it.
It’s about connecting the dots without getting stuck in the picture.
It’s about letting your memories rise so you can rise with them.

When we stop resisting the pain and start understanding it, something shifts. Transformation becomes natural. Healing becomes softer. And the parts of you that once felt broken off and far away begin to come home.

This is how you become whole again —
not by fighting, but by remembering.

Click here to “Find Your ShiNe”  (link to Find Your ShiNe Flashlight – Website)

When the old memories show up — the guilt, the shame, the “maybe I can handle it this time” thought — it’s not danger.
It’s your soul whispering,
“You’ve already lived that story… and you don’t belong there anymore.”
Don’t fight it.
Don’t relive it.
Let it remind you of who you’ve become.

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