Not just love, but respect for ourselves and our personal journeys too.
Most recently, my youngest sister called and asked if she could hang out with me-that in itself was amazing, considering how much I compromised our relationship when I was drinking. I explained to her that I couldn't, as I had plans to get to a meeting. She later told me (I called her the following day) that she was having such a hard time, she hung up the phone and burst into tears. I wasn't fully aware of her situation at the time.
She wanted to see her big sister, but understood fully that meetings are so important for me that she was OK. The more I work on myself, the more emotionally available I am, even if I can't always be literally available. She said to Mum "It's cool, I don't mind if Quinne has a meeting and we can't do stuff together-I know she needs to do that for herself"
What I'm learning is the more I respect myself and what I have to do, the more respect I get from those closest to me. That includes setting healthy boundaries to ensure I'm surrounded with positive people and that recovery doesn't waver from being #1.
It takes a lot of practice-but it does get easier
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