I was reading one of those day by day books they use as tools in recovery. It is just one of the many habits or rituals I have in the mornings.

Today it said, “Time in recovery doesn’t matter. We are all just one drink away from being drunk.”

I disagree with this.

Yes, it’s the first drink I stay away from just like any sober alcoholic does, but 29 years in recovery is very different from 29 days in it.

I’m not saying better – I’m saying different. And that difference matters.

It is not my intent to sound cocky here. I know people who have gone out drinking after achieving long term sobriety and I do not want to be one of them.

Sobriety is my normal. That comfort, awareness and normality came to me over time with practice. A person in early recovery needs to create a “new normal” and no matter what the books say, that takes time.

One day at a time.