“Wear your recovery like a loose garment.”
—Heard in the rooms
I missed my meeting today—there goes my 90 in 90! I’m only on Step 2! I forgot to send my gratitude list! Does this sound familiar? We addicts can be so hard on ourselves, especially in our early recovery. It’s like we’re punishing ourselves for our past behavior, like we have to make up for lost time by being the best little child in the world.
Yes, addiction is a deadly, destructive disease, and yes, we have to be vigilant and keep moving forward with our recovery, but that’s not a reason to drive ourselves the same way we drove ourselves in our addiction. Nobody can sustain an overly intense and unforgiving program. Things that are too tightly wound tend to break.
We’re in this for the long haul—slow, steady, and gentle is where we need to be. We are constantly reminded in this program that it’s practice, not perfection. We have our whole lives to recover.
Intention: Today I will make the slogan “Easy Does It” my mantra.