Resilience in Recovery can look a lot like an infant learning to walk. A lot of examples could fit here but let’s look at someone in recovery from poor health choices. They are learning to eat in a particular way, exercise and live a healthier lifestyle. Much like an infant learning to walk, this person will face temptations in life that may knock them off their feet. Maybe they are at a friend’s wedding and that cake is just too tempting. So they eat a piece. Now they are that infant, hollering in frustration from the middle of the living room floor and they are faced with a choice. Do we pull ourselves up and start in a new moment or do we sit in our guilt, shame, frustration, or anger? Sitting in the feelings means we don’t move forward, it may even mean we move backwards. As an infant, not trying to walk again means we go back to crawling. It’s a solution but is it the best solution for us and the one we want for ourselves? So we choose to get up and try again. We remind ourselves and one piece of cake and a few moments on our butt in the living room doesn’t make us any less amazing or capable of success. We make better choices for ourselves next time and before we even see what’s happening we have developed a rhythm and we are in motion. One step at a time, shaky at first, we are on the move towards the independence and success we deserve. So the glory, the happiness, the comfort doesn’t come in never falling… It comes when we show ourselves and everyone around us that no matter what, we will keep going.

Falling is key to taking another step and eventually your strides forward will make you unstoppable.

Sarah Deats

Sarah Deats is the Hope Inc. Stories Inspiration Engineer. Her goals are to make a connection with everyone that she can while building community, spreading hope, and sparking change. She believes that while life may not be easy, it is never lived alone.