Episode 396: How To Overcome Addiction Through Vulnerability And Gratitude - From Shopping Addiction To Inner Peace

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SHOW NOTES

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Episode Number: 396

Episode Title: How To Overcome Addiction Through Vulnerability and Gratitude - From Shopping Addiction to Inner Peace

Podcast Highlights:

[01:49] Pascale shares her personal story of being a shopaholic in her 20s

[02:49] The revelation that addiction is about seeking "enoughness" rather than the behaviour itself

[03:22] How vulnerability transformed from weakness to strength in her healing journey

[05:06] The power of sitting quietly with ourselves to remember "I am whole, I am loved, I am free"

[05:39] Gratitude as the final piece that shifts focus from lack to fullness

[06:27] Conclusion

Resources:

Episode 295 - "Embracing Vulnerability Setting Yourself Free" (referenced in this episode)

Connect with Pascale Gibon:

Website: www.pascalegibon.com

Email: www.pascalegibon.com/contact

How To Overcome Addiction Through Vulnerability and Gratitude - From Shopping Addiction to Inner Peace

This episode explores the root causes of addictive behaviours and offers a roadmap for healing through three key principles: acknowledging our patterns, embracing vulnerability, and cultivating gratitude. Pascale's candid sharing of her own struggles with shopping addiction creates a safe space for listeners to examine their own numbing behaviours, whether it's overworking, people-pleasing, or endless scrolling.

Table of Contents

Shopping for Enoughness: Understanding Addiction's True Nature

The Role of Vulnerability in Healing

Returning to Peace

The Healing Power of Gratitude

Conclusion

Shopping for Enoughness: Understanding Addiction's True Nature

Pascale reveals her personal struggle with shopping addiction in her 20s, buying clothes, shoes, and handbags every week. She explains how this behaviour was never really about the items themselves, but about filling a void and chasing the sense of being enough, worthy, and whole. She encourages listeners to look beneath the surface of their own addictive patterns, whether it's saying yes to everyone else, pouring themselves into work to avoid inner pain, or reaching for food, drink, or distractions when what they truly need is rest and connection. The core message is that addiction is never about the thing - it's about the search for enoughness and external validation when we should be tapping into our authentic internal power.

The Role of Vulnerability in Healing

Initially viewing vulnerability as weakness, Pascale shares her transformation in understanding vulnerability as the greatest liberator. She explains how addiction thrives in hiding, in keeping up appearances and pretending everything is fine. The breakthrough comes when we allow ourselves to feel - to cry, acknowledge our struggles, and ask for help. This vulnerability breaks the cycle and opens the door to peace, self-acceptance, and love. Every tear shed and moment of honesty becomes a step toward freedom, away from the chains of perfectionism and toward embracing our wholeness.

Returning to Peace

Pascale contrasts the anxiety, restlessness, and striving that addictions create with the inner stillness that comes from vulnerability. She emphasises that peace doesn't come from external sources - not from one more purchase, achievement, or distraction - but from within. This inner peace comes from sitting quietly with ourselves and remembering our inherent wholeness: "I am whole. I am loved and I am free."

The Healing Power of Gratitude

Gratitude serves as the final piece of the healing puzzle, shifting focus from what we lack to the fullness of what we already have. When we live in gratitude, the compulsive need to fill voids with addictive behaviours softens. We no longer need to chase "more" because we recognise that what we have and who we are is already enough. Pascale invites listeners to pause, breathe, and reflect on what they're grateful for in the present moment, allowing gratitude to remind them of their wholeness, freedom, and peace.

Conclusion

The episode concludes with Pascale's gentle reminder that while addiction may manifest differently for each person, the path back to peace remains consistent: through vulnerability, honesty, and gratitude. She challenges listeners to ask themselves, "Where am I numbing myself, and how can I instead choose honesty, peace and gratitude?" The overarching message is one of hope and self-compassion - that we are already enough, and freedom comes from acknowledging our patterns and choosing a different path rooted in authenticity and gratitude.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

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Hello beautiful souls,

Welcome back to The Everyday Life Balance Show. I'm Pascale Gibon, and I'm so grateful you're here.

Today, I want to speak about something real – addiction. We all have one, whether it's shopping, overworking, chocolate, people-pleasing, or endlessly scrolling on our phones. At its root, addiction is often not about the thing itself. It's about what lies beneath it - the longing to feel enough, safe and soothed.

Over the summer, I took some much-needed time to pause and reflect. That space helps me gain clarity on what matters the most. Freedom begins with acknowledging the ways we numb ourselves and bravely choosing another path.

Here is my story of addiction, and how I overcame it through vulnerability and gratitude.

Shopping For Enoughness

In my 20s, I was what you might call a shopaholic. I was buying clothes, shoes and handbags every week. Shopping became my way of filling the void, chasing the next outfit, the next thrill. Some of you might relate to this. But what I was seeking wasn't in the bag I carried home – it was the sense of being enough, worthy and whole. Perhaps your 'shopping' looks different. Maybe it's saying yes to everyone else and leaving yourself last. Possibly it's pouring yourself into work so you don't have to feel the ache inside. Maybe it's reaching for food, drink, or distraction when what you truly need is rest and connection.

When we pause long enough to look beneath the surface, we see that addiction is never about the thing – it's about the search for enoughness.

Should you have addiction, whatever it is: ask yourself whether you seek external validation for your 'enoughness' and miss out on your authentic 'enoughness', your internal power, where lie all the answers you seek. Never dismiss your inner power and truth.

The Role of Vulnerability In Healing

I used to have an adverse relationship with vulnerability. It was never my friend because I believed it was a sign of weakness. I now think the opposite: showing vulnerability is the greatest liberator, for without it, there's no healing, transformation, or progress.

Here's where the power of vulnerability comes in. Addiction thrives in hiding – in keeping up appearances, in pretending we are fine when we are not. However, when we allow ourselves to feel – to cry, to acknowledge our struggles, and to ask for help – we break the cycle. Vulnerability isn’t a weakness; it's a strength that sets us free. It opens the door to peace, self-acceptance and love.

Every tear shed, every moment of honesty, is a step away from chains of perfectionism and towards the wide-open space of freedom. This is emancipation: releasing the need to pretend and embracing the wholeness of who we are. For further help on the topic of vulnerability, I invite you to listen to episode 295 of the Everyday Life Balance show, entitled: "Embracing Vulnerability Setting Yourself Free." Unveiling our protective armour allows us to unleash our authentic selves.

Returning To Peace

Addictions stir up anxiety, restlessness, and striving. But when we step into vulnerability, we also step back into peace – the inner stillness that tells us we are already enough. Peace doesn't come from one more purchase, one more achievement, or one more distraction. It comes from within, from sitting quietly with ourselves and remembering: I am whole. I am loved and I am free.

The Healing Power Of Gratitude

Gratitude is the final piece of the puzzle. It shifts our focus away from a lack of something and into fullness. When we live in gratitude, the need to fill a void with addiction softens. We no longer need to chase 'more' because we see that what we have – and who we are – is already enough. Gratitude is a powerful tool that can transform our perspective and bring hope and optimism into our lives.

So, today I invite you to pause. Breathe. Reflect on what you are grateful for in this moment. Let that gratitude remind you of your wholeness, freedom and peace.

Thank you, beautiful soul, for sharing this sacred space with me. Addiction may manifest differently for each of us, but the path back to peace remains the same – through vulnerability, honesty, and gratitude. 

As you step into this week, I encourage you to ask yourself:

Where am I numbing myself, and how can I instead choose honesty, peace and gratitude?

Until next time, I'm sending you love, light and the gentle reminder that you are already enough. Stay blessed, free and peaceful.