Parenting is hard. Life in general was hard before you and your partner went and made a duplicate of yourselves and decided it was time to pass on what you learned living in the world to your child, who will in turn pass on what they learned from you and what they then learn in their own lives to their children.

The cycle continues. It’s a beautiful cycle. Everyone is a product of their generation and of the upbringing they experienced. No matter how far off the beaten path somebody gets, the experiences they had growing up still shape, define, and mold decision making throughout their lives. Everything you do reflects upon your children. This is why it’s so difficult on your when your child goes through trials and ends up being in a situation where recovery is necessary.

You Didn’t Fail

You’re probably asking yourself a lot of questions. Where did you go wrong? Should you have done something different? Is it all your fault? Each question will be answered differently depending on the situation, but the important thing to understand is that you didn’t fail.

Just because your child has been through some tough things and made several bad decisions doesn’t mean that you didn’t do your job. There are so many factors that affect whether or not a person is going to turn to a substance to deal with the issues that face every person walking on this planet. Because your child picked the wrong method does not mean that you failed as a parent.

Love Comes in Many Forms

In your parenting walk you’ve probably experienced many of the different stages of love. There is growth, rebirth, death, ebb and flow, and a lot of challenge. In this time while your child is walking through recovery, understand that you can love your child in many different ways. At this time do they need tough love, or do they need the kind of love that just holds them without judgement or words?

Be sensitive to the form of love your child needs in this time and know that just because love isn’t being expressed in the way you think it should doesn’t mean it’s not being given or received for all that it is worth.

Greet the New Day With Fresh Ambition

The path might be long and arduous. Do all that you need to make sure you can wake up and greet the new day with fresh ambition to do all that is set before you. Connect with your spiritual side, give thanks for what you have, and make every day matter. Take care of yourself so that you can in turn take care of those that you love in this difficult season of life.