Integrity

The word that comes to mind from last night's group is INTEGRITY- which includes honesty and being our whole, true selves. Members displayed bold honesty about life’s hardships and celebrations, their struggles with their eating disorder, and their desire to listen to their true voice rather than the one that is harmful. Eating disorders are secretive and make us isolate from those we love, but when we choose to bring our struggle out into the open with safe people, the eating disorder loses its power. Shame vanishes, hope rises, and we can deal with the issue underneath that’s really fueling the behavior.

I was amazed at the courage many members demonstrated by speaking the truth about their eating disorder to spouses, friends, therapists and the support group. This willingness to be real about one’s struggle fosters immense growth towards recovery.

The topic of Identity was also brought up as members wrestled with defining who they are without the demands, expectations or assumptions of other people. One member encouraged everyone to grow outside of the “little box” of sizes or numbers on the scale or our clothes that we can be tempted to define ourselves by. When we grow the box of our identity a little bigger, we have more space to flourish and become who we truly are, which is so much more than simply a number. Our unique personality, interests, passions, gifts, and all the elements that make us who we truly are can thrive when we allow others’ perceptions and even our own self-imposed limitations fall away.

Honesty and identity are issues that are essential to recovery. Both were present last night in group as members were honest with themselves as well as other group members. I was amazed and inspired by the group’s audacity to discover their true identity apart from struggling with an eating disorder. As one member put it, “your eating disorder is not your legacy…it is not who you are.” I hope we all continue to be boldly honest and true to our own identity as we go through this week.

Kathryn