When Muhammad Ali first uttered the famous phrase, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” the former world heavyweight champion was describing his fighting style in the ring. He danced around, dodging, weaving, and absorbing blows from every angle before landing straightforward, bone-crushing blows of his own.
There’s a lot we can learn from a champion boxer like Ali– especially when it comes to his version of dancing in the rain. One of the things we learn in recovery is how to look deep down inside of ourselves to uncover the issues that may have led us to using. A large part of dealing with those issues is accepting that they exist and figuring out ways to combat them. When it comes to life, our mentality should be much the same. In treatment, we learn to roll with life’s punches, not attempt to change them. The fact of the matter is that in many scenarios, we can’t exactly change the hand we’re dealt anyway. What we can do, however, is embrace that hand for what it is, and choose to go with the flow and make the best of it, instead of letting doubt, worry, or stress about something we can’t control anyway consume us.
As for part two of Ali’s famous quote– the “sting like a bee” part– there’s a gem here that we can take to the bank as well. As it often happened, Ali’s training was so powerful that when he did retaliate, it was unlikely that his opponent would be able to stop it. Likewise, we learn to craft a powerful arsenal of tools here in treatment that we can unleash when we feel doubt, fear, or stress start to creep in. Those tools have names like mindfulness, communication, and brotherhood.
Rolling with life’s punches means that even when it may seem like life is trying to get the better of us, we’re always in control of ourselves, and we’re always on top of the situation, no matter what. When life gets too fast and furious, we can rest easy that we’ve got the tools in our arsenal to help us punch our way through.
Tree House Recovery of Portland, Oregon is a men’s addiction treatment center that teaches our clients how to roll with life’s punches and use the tools they’ve learned throughout the treatment process to stay on top of anything life throws at them. Call (503) 850-2474 to see how we can help you today.
