Who is Brené Brown?
Brené Brown is an American Research professor, author, lecturer, and podcast host. She is particularly known for her research on vulnerability, shame, courage, and empathy, but became famous following a widely viewed TEDx talk in 2010. Her TEDx talk “The Power of Vulnerability”, is one of the top five most-viewed TED talks in the world. As of 2021, she has authored six number-one New York Times bestsellers including Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, and Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. She is also 26 years sober this month and has a lot of wisdom to share about her recovery journey. Even though she may be categorized as a motivational speaker, her work is based on interviews and data and goes beyond spouting feel-good lines about love and acceptance.
Brené Brown’s Story of Addiction, Sobriety, and Recovery
May 12, 2022, marks Brené’s 26th year in recovery and she credits her sobriety as one of her “secrets to her success”. She believes sobriety has allowed her to live an authentic, honest life rather than trying to outsmart, outrun, and numb vulnerability. She believes in the courage to be vulnerable. In 1996, she decided to attend her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting but struggled with whether she belonged there because she did not feel she had a strong enough addiction like others who attend AA. She decided to continue going and when she chose a sponsor, they helped her realize she had many small addictions, including her relationship with food. She often emphasizes setting boundaries and choosing courage for successful recovery. Here are some quotes that will inspire your sobriety:
12 Brené Brown Inspirational Quotes for People in Recovery
1. “Sobriety isn’t a limitation. Sobriety isn’t even a ‘have to.’ It’s a superpower.”
2. “Just because someone isn’t willing or able to love us, it doesn’t mean that we are unlovable.”
3. “The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.”
4. “Pain is unrelenting. It will get our attention. Despite our attempts to drown it in addiction, to physically beat it out of one another, to suffocate it with success and material trappings, or to strangle it with our hate, pain will find a way to make itself known.”
5. “If you’re asking yourself if your drinking is problematic, then, at the very least, drinking is probably not serving you.”
6. “Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light”
7. “Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”
8. “Courage is contagious. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver.”
9. “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weaknesses.”
10. “In my experience, sobriety makes good on the sparkle that booze/drugs/numbing promises but never delivers.”
11. “You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.”
12. “Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.”
Finding Support for Sobriety and Recovery from Addiction at TruPath
Brené has often mentioned owning our story in order to avoid relapses. At TruPath Recovery, we offer various treatments to help you do just that. Through cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and support groups, we will encourage and empower you to live in your truth to understand your triggers and avoid relapse. You will feel brave enough to explore how your past and current story has led to your addiction. Through addiction recovery, you can experience the power of vulnerability for yourself.
When deciding whether you have an addiction, you may feel you will risk missing the sparkle that those substances may have brought to your life. But as Brené said, she found her true sparkle in sobriety and with the courage to be vulnerable.
If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, please call us. We are always available to help you get started on the road to recovery, check our drug and alcohol detox Los Angeles center for more info.