Dallas Bragg argues that relapse doesn't mean failure or regression. Instead of buying the story that you're broken or your program doesn't work, he says each relapse teaches you something new. The narrative you choose about what happened determines whether you spiral or move forward.
If I relapse, I am a failure. If I relapse, I'm not doing the program correctly. If I relapse, I have to start counting my days over. If I relapse, I'm separate and not as good as those people who can stay sober. If I relapse, there's inherently something wrong with me. If I relapse, I have a disease that can't be cured. If I relapse, I'm in the same place in recovery that I was a year ago. If you are buying into any of these narratives about yourself, then you're going to continue to prove those narratives true. And that's what gets you stuck in a relapse cycle. Instead, relapse should be an upward spiral. Every time you relapse, you learn something new, which should put you on a trajectory upward. I want you to pay attention to the narrative you're telling yourself. What have you accepted that is true? And I want you to flip it. The key to recovery is self-empowerment.
