A-Z of Addiction Recovery - V is for Value

Value

You have value. Every life is precious and valuable. Many people do not value themselves highly and act out their distress with alcohol and drug abuse, which only devalues one further, particluarly when long held values may have been abandoned in favor of intoxication.

Every human being has intrinsic worth and no one is immune to chemical dependency, whether you are a professional person: doctor, nurse, attorney, or a homeless person on the street, the addiction disease is called "an equal opportunity destroyer", because it crosses all socio-economic levels. It can turn a millionaire into a beggar, a cop into a thief, a housewife into a felon.

You have value as a human being, and you have also have values (that's why a moral inventory is so important in the 4th step - to reacquaint you with your values so you can begin living them in sobriety.) Living within a set of guidelines of one's values (like sobriety) will help create more self esteem and value. Maybe that's why they are called values...