ceneri

I already know the short answer...not for everyone. I am reading through threads sensing regrets & feelings of failure. Maybe im too new and naive, but I believe any effort is better than none. We all have growth spurts and set backs toward any positive change. Peace!

smacked

I think true recovery is progressive.. I didn't just put down my drugs and liquor and poof I'm a sober/recovered person.

That's not to say that I'm a believer in the "relapse is part of recovery" line that gets thrown around all the time.

I know out on the alcoholism boards, Carol often mentions that she had a lot of "false starts".

I know for me, 'relapsing' or drinking again as I prefer to say, would have been deadly, and not a learning experience.. but as a whole, the recovery process is very progressive, the growth *can* be amazing, and beautiful.

Also keep in mind, when you mention what you've read around here, a lot of people that post here, are struggling. They are, their loved ones are.. etc. There are likely a lot of successes, successful relationship, recovery stories that simply aren't posted here because members grow and move on.

Supercrew

For me recovery was very progressive once I made my mind up to never drink again. Everyday day got easier and easier and living sober is much more enjoyable on a daily basis.

What seemed like a huge task a year ago is completely second nature now.

Zebra1275

Actually, I think it is progressive. It just doesn't go at the speed we would like, which for many alcoholics = instant gratification.

susanlauren

The combined experience of recovered alcoholics is that we cannot drink and recover at the same time. The choice is an "either-or". It is difficult, if not impossible, to have progressive recovery when one is dealing with a progressive disease. Each relapse brings a lower bottom and a deeper spiral into hell. If you have lost power, choice and control over your drinking and if you are not in recovery, the disease of alcoholism is in charge. Alcohol will take you wherever it wants to take you and it will be done with you when it decides that it wants to be done with you. Susan

Anna

Recovery is definitely progressive.

Every change you make in your life causes a ripple effect and it results in more change and more benefits.

Programmatic

Recovery is progressive. Sobriety is not.

Just as if someone who picks up a drink after 10 years of sobriety will find themselves right where they left off with drinking they will find themselves right where they left off when they get back into recovery.

The real question becomes how far into recovery did this person actually get if they managed to pick up another drink? They know pretty much exactly how far into the disease they had gotten.

Kjell

Hi C-

Recovery, at least mine, is progressive. I'm changing who I am and that takes time (sometimes a long time).

...but we don't know,... what we don't know, and b/c of that, I usually notice my progress through my rearview.

Kjell~

Raindance

I feel my recovery is progressive. I am stronger every day.

Programmatic

Once you begin to fundamentally change you can't just magically go back. You can't unknow, unlearn and unexperience.
This is the same basis for why the disease is also progressive.

Boleo

So did I , for awhile.

When I first sought out sobriety, all I wanted was to cut down my drinking. Right away I was able to abstain 12 out of every 14 days. I found I only needed to drink every other weekend. I falsely saw this as a successful attempt to moderate.

However, what I ended up doing was drinking way more during those 2 days than ever before. It was not long before those 2 day weekend binges turned into 3 - 4 day relapses followed by 3 - 4 day bouts with DT's.

I started feeling sicker then ever, not answering my phone more often and missing more work than I started out with. In fact, the longer I went on with these binge cycles, the closer they got together.

caringnurse

If you are determined to recover then every day you will be improving.

nandm

For me recovery has been progressive. Unfortunately, it has not always progressed where I wanted it to...lol But ultimately even when those times have hit I have found that I come through it stronger and it is those times that have made me who I am today and I would not change that.

So hang in there. Don't let yourself get discouraged. Any recovery is progressive and a step in the right direction.

yeahgr8

Yep recovery is progressive and you have to be sober for that to be true...recovery is a "crazy" gift thinking back to when the goal was just to stop drinking in the beginning...amazing!

Dee74

I had a lot of false starts too - I call them 'relapses' for convenience, but I wasn't really in recovery then.

I've found my recovery has been progressive...but not always linear....just as there are good and bad days in life I find there are good and bad days in recovery too...I think the trick is to be prepared and know how to deal with any day, no matter what happens

D

Zencat

I had to make recovery a progression into a better way of living life.

EmeraldRose

I feel that my recovery is progressive. My disease progressed where I didn't want to be and now my recovery is progressing on the road to where I do want to be.
I had many false starts and not until I was hit in the head with a monkey flying a train did I realize that this time was the last time. I jumped over a invisible magickal line in a wrinkle in time and haven't looked back. Not sure where the monkey went. LOL
Everyday is the first day of the rest of my life. Everyday is a fresh start, a new beginning, a new chance. I have a new thought process that my choices today affect my future tomorrow. The thoughts I have, the choices I make, it all makes a push into what the outcome is -in everything.
So if I 'think' I'm gonna drink....chances are my mind will react to that thought and I will drink.
This is not an option for me...all my thoughts and progressions need to be positive. They need to promote a prosperous outcome. So yes, it is all progressive.

biancaruslow

the recovery is progressive..Every positive change you make in your life will make you become stronger every day.