Sherry Gaba LCSW, Psychotherapist, Life & Recovery Coach is featured Celebrity Rehab on VH1. Sherry is the author of “The Law of Sobriety” which uses the law of attraction to recover from any addiction. Please download your copy of “Manifest Holistic Health” from Sherry’s Enrich Your Life Series. Contact Sherry at sherry@sgabatherapy.com for webinars, teleseminars, coaching packages and speaking engagements. Listen to Sherry on “A Moment of Change with Sherry Gaba”on CBS Radio.

Have you ever noticed how important things are in our lives? These things may be positive and happy but they may also be draining us emotionally, financially and spiritually. In my book “The Law of Sobriety” I encourage those in recovery to carefully examine those must have things in their life to decide if simply having these attachments to things is actually part of the problem.

Think of the things that you own that seem like they a defining part of you. Is it that brand new car that has a huge monthly lease payment, or is it that membership to the country club or that job that you dislike so much? Do the things that you own define you as a person or is it your internal being that makes you the unique person that you are? For people in recovery or those that are in denial of their addiction that outward appearance that is obtained by the “things” in life is the persona that they want to display to the world. Keeping up that image, making those payments or buying the latest, greatest thing adds stress, unhappiness and pressure that creates a viscous cycle.

Getting rid of the things that own you, the unhealthy attachments in life, is a major step in letting go of the false image you are struggling to maintain and accepting the beautiful person inside. This is not an easy task but you can learn to let go and be at peace. In the book I outline a simple exercise that I would like you to try right now. Just follow these simple steps to mentally and physically riding yourself of those draining false images.

• Choose one thing in life that you see as “owning you” or something that is causing physical, emotional or financial stress in your life to maintain.
• Examine the item honestly and practically and determine what role it plays in the image you are trying to project to the world.
• Eliminate the item from your life on a permanent basis. Give it away, return it or donate it to charity.
• Feel the stress relief, the joy and the freedom that not having to maintain that item provides.

Work through those other items in your life that “own you” on some level. As you give each one way or remove it as a defining part of yourself you will find inner qualities that rise to the surface and allow you to truly become the person you want to be.