Thought for the Week

Timothy D. Stein, MFT, CSAT

August 21, 2017

“Losing is what motivates me and winning is what sustains me.” –Sigi Schmidt

There is a difference between motivation and sustainment.  What is it that motivates you?  For many addicts it is the pain of relapse, either one’s own experience of shame or their experience of the pain and/or anger the relapse has brought up in others.  This motivation helps us to make positive changes to our program, boundaries, and routine.  But what is it that sustains us is a different question.  Sustenance is not achieved by avoiding something.  We find it in our experience.  Sustenance in recovery may be “I like who I am when I am sober,” or “I am able to be the husband/father/friend I want to be when I live my recovery.”  Both motivation and sustenance are important.

Have I been aware of my motivation for doing this work?  Have I been aware of what sustains me in this work?  What gifts await me as I embrace both my motivation and sustenance for sobriety and recovery?