A while ago I posted about a plant. It was a volunteer in a geranium pot. Our puppy chewed on the geranium and they are toxic and it was all scraggly, so we pulled it out of the pot. We wanted to keep the volunteer plant. It had little rhizomes, so we planted them and put the pot on the windowsill in the bathroom. And then we just kept watering the pot, even though there was no visible plant in it. Eventually, a little shoot came up. And I said it was like the program - even when it doesn't look like anything is happening, keep showing up, keep watering your plant, and something will happen.

Well, the windowsill is really high, so I have to take the plant down to water it or even see what's going on. I let it go too long without water, and the little shoot shrivelled and died. But I knew those rhizomes were still in there, and they can go dormant and then come back, so I kept watering the pot of soil. Yesterday I took it down to check it, and there were two little shoots coming up!

And this is also like the program. You may have ups and downs while you are working on the steps. Maybe you stopped doing breakfast for a while, or you started eating whites again, or you started eating candy between meals. But those little recovery seeds are still inside you. Don't give up. Go back and start again. Look at it as a learning experience. And your recovery will come back, maybe even stronger than before. Just because there's a little stumble in your path doesn't mean it's over, you failed, etc.
Allison