24 hours in a day. Seven days in a week. 52 weeks in a year. 525,600 minutes of living from January 1st to December 31st one year after another. Some years fly by. Other years seem to crawl. As we come upon the end of the year, we find ourselves reflecting on everything that has happened over the course of the last 12 months.

If we are in our first year of recovery, we have had quite the journey. Within the last year, we have gone from what might have been our most miserable and sick time of our lives in active addiction to hitting what could be called a “bottom”. Overcoming our pride and recognizing the critical need for help, we asked, and we went to treatment. Now, months later, we are clean and sober, learning how to live in recovery. We can hardly believe it. From barely surviving to working on thriving, it has been a year for the books.

A principle we learn in recovery is taking life one day at a time. We can put emphasis and focus on the “end” of one year and the “beginning” of another year. A Monday still turns into a Tuesday, meaning, December 31st to January 1st is still just one more day we have a chance to work on our recovery. Once January 1st starts the ball rolling on a whole new year, we see the days pile up, one day at a time.

This is mostly how recovery goes. If we keep track of our sobriety date, at some point during the year, we will celebrate our sober anniversary. Years will continue to fly by, bringing us to one, two, three years of recovery and beyond. We reflect on time and realize that the time is irrelevant. One day at a time brings us to just that- one day at a time. Our reflection at the end of a calendar year or a year of recovery helps us realize this. It is all just one day at a time, one day after another, piling into years and decades of our life. From start to finish, midnight to midnight, we prove to ourselves how strong, capable, and resilient we are. Drugs and alcohol are no longer our solution. We’re living to live, we’re thriving, and we’re not looking back except to realize how much is in store for us going forward.

Tree House Recovery is a men’s treatment program located in Portland, Oregon. Creating sustainable recovery through sustainable change, our programs help men learn how to live sober with adventurous lives. Call us today for information: (503) 850-2474