February 29

”Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Confucius

Many of us aspire to be the perfect recoverer, to make the decision to become sober and to maintain that new state for the rest of our days. We figure there’s a simple switch to turn off our addictive behaviour and move on with a normal life. If only it were so easy. Like our life has been to this point, so is our recovery a journey. It does not take a straight path, but one filled with ups and downs, good times and bad. Our initial time in recovery is much like learning to ride a bike without training wheels. We know the basics of being on the bicycle but are fearful of not having the support of those two small wheels. We likely fell many times before we got the hang of it and ultimately overcame our fears. So too with our recovery, it can be frightening taking those first steps. We might even be excited about the new way of living and jump in with both feet. But those first relapses, our falling back to our old ways, leave us missing the security of our training wheels. It takes courage and support to get back on track.

Affirmation Today I can rise if I fail, the ultimate goal is progress, not perfection in my recovery.