I think a huge lightbulb moment for me in recovery was learning that I am not my thoughts and I am not my feelings. When I first learned this idea I could not for the life of me wrap my head around it, if I’m not those things, then what am I? For so long I was in the thick of what was going on in my mind and in my emotions that I did not see myself outside of them. Through recovery and especially meditation I was able to realize that thoughts and feelings are just filters. We all experience them and go through them in varying ways, what we are is whatever we choose to be. I can’t help that I experience feelings and thoughts that feel uncomfortable and make me unhappy, but I do choose how much attention I give them and whether I am going to feed that thought until it grows and grows. We so often try to control what we think and feel when what we really only have control over is how we engage with these thoughts and feelings. When we realize this the sense of power you have over self is amazing.