30 days sober yesterday after nearly 3 years sober and falling by the wayside for a few months ā¦.relapse is not a failure imo, you are not a failure until you stop trying ā¦.NEVER give up the fight against addiction 
#belief #faith #weDOrecover
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Well done nanna, ur an inspiration
Yes! You are not a failure. A failure is someone who does not get back up and face the challenge of addiction. Hugs
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Totally agree. Relapsed to many times to count until I realised were I was going wrong. I was trying to do what worked for other people. I found my own way. Staying strong. The fact we are still here shows you that whatever addiction tried to beat youā¦LOST. Remember that.
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Congrats on you getting back at it!
Although Iād be careful because that thought can become a slippery slope when we get a cravingā¦ I use to tell that myself and sometimes without realizing it I was justifying my futur relapse by telling me āI must be doing something wrong in the way Iām trying to be sober because I feel I am going to relapseā¦ I donāt know what Iām doing wrongā¦ but at least relapsing is not a failure, if it have to happen it may happen and Iāll learn from itā¦. What should I do?ā And the very next weekend I was blackout for another benderā¦
I understand saying this afterwards helps to remove the feeling of guilt of having relapsed. We didnāt failed, we learned. But I my opinion once youāve decided to commit to recovery and sobriety it is much more easier if the thought of relapsing is out of the equation. Relapsing is bad. Relapsing is dangerous. I could loose everything in a blink of an eye. For me itās not OK to relapse, because if I keep that discourse alive somewhere in my head, I know that when Iāll let my guard down I might just use it to get back at the bottle.
All that been said, we learn from failure. If we go through life without our ideas and behaviours being confronted we do not change. So yes, for me relapses are failures from which Iāve learned. Does it make us a failure because weāve failed so many time? That no! You are not a failure thatās for sure. We are all here because we want to get better! Being a failure would mean to give up like Mallory said.
Iād just be careful about the thought that relapse is not a failure, because for a lot of people here relapse could mean loosing everything or even death, plain and simply. Looking back and saying we learn from a mistake ok. But looking forward into recovery, I donāt know how that thought is helpful when it comes to stay sober.
Just my 2 cents 
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It isnāt a failure if we refuse to let it be so, by getting back up and getting after it.
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I love that you are still fighting and not giving up 
I like your positivity.
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For me personallyā¦relapsing would be. I have to look at it that way. It would be certain death for me. So, I protect my sobriety like it is the only thing worth having. Without it, I have nothing but death.
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Same!!! When you have liver cirrhosis, a relapse is literal death. Guess it depends on the situation and many factors but I donāt agree with that statement. Congrats on your thirty days @Nanna8
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I canāt say that I ever ārelapsedā as I wasnāt fully committed to the idea of never drinking again. No, Iād quit for a time, a few weeks or months, and then decide to drink again.
I havenāt had a drink since the day I decided to be sober forever. If I ever do take a drink, it will be a failure, because my goal is 100%. 99% wonāt do. This failure would compound with every additional drink I took, and I know that that road ends in a slow, painful death.
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There is no āfailureā or āsuccessā.
We choose to fight to live sober or we succumb to alcohol/drugs. Neither path is wrong.
I have chosen to live sober the past 330 something days although it felt like it was going to kill me a few times. I plan to continue to live sober.
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I donāt know man ā¦
If I choose to drink today Iām pretty sure it would be the wrong pathā¦ so it would be for a lot of people on here.
Actually I had a huge craving earlier today. I am alone at home, I just finished a long stressful week. Iām currently fighting the idea of drinking. If I take the path of drinking I donāt know where Iād be ending my day.
That would be a bad choice.
Of course it wouldnāt mean that i am a failure, but that would certainly be a failure of my recovery plan.
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. Hang in there, I get those from time to time as well especially after a long week. I find cooking is my outlet-distracts me, calms me. I hope you have an activity like that!
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Thank you yes Iāve been keeping myself busy!
Also I am not saying that people who relapses are failures. Iāve done it a lot and it might happen again.
But to establish a failure/success we have to be in a certain context. If I fail an exam I failed the exam, and Iāve learned from my mistakes. But I did fail the test because the objective was to get the good answers. If my goal is sobriety and I drink, I just failed my goal, so thatās a failure. I learn from it and take action to reach my goal considering my past mistakes.
But I canāt tell myself that relapsing wouldnāt be a failure for my sobriety. It would be.
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if mankind didnāt learn from failure we would still be living in caves sat in the dark and cold. But we must learn.
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A relapse doesnāt take away the time we had. Surely if we muster that many days, something was going right.
Itās up to us to stand back up, understand what tripped us, and get moving again. With courage we can learn and we can grow.
Glad youāre back and rocking, @Nanna8!
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Failure of your recovery plan yes. Perfectly worded.
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Damn. I felt this in my bones.
Good shit.
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Thank you for all the replies ā¦our addictions are personal to us and whatever road e take to recovery if it gets us there then itās the right one for us. I have great respect for everyone on their journey and their opinionsā¦ā¦the thing that helps me is I run the video forward and see if it is worth picking up that first drink ā¦.I am not going to beat myself up for relapsing no I picked myself up and dusted myself off and started again ā¦.I am NOT my relapse I AM my * recovery * 
Namaste 