If you have known me for long, or if you are on the receiving end of my e-mails or articles that I send out then you know that I take my running pretty seriously. Tonight I am speaking at a pre-marathon party for the San Antonio Rock & Roll marathon. I am going to talk about recovery in terms of running, but also recovery in terms of my alcoholism, addictions and bad habits. It has given me the chance to think a lot about the two of them and how they are similar, but also how they are different.
In any given week I generally will run anywhere from about 50-80 miles per week. It depends on where I’m at in my training, what event is coming up and how far out I am from my last race. Once I get up past about 60-65 miles that is a lot of running for me. Some people can run 100 mile weeks. As of yet, I am not one of them. Back to the point though, for me to run that many miles a week without getting injured I have to do a number of things right. I have to RECOVER well from my workouts. For that to happen I have to make sure that I am eating correctly, getting enough sleep and stretching consistently. I have to make sure that I am not running hard every day. Hard runs have to be followed by easy runs.
When I don’t follow these rules I end up injured. Early in my running career I got injured a lot. I didn’t pay attention to my recovery and I didn’t listen to my body when it was telling me to stop. So I kept making the same mistakes and would eventually get injured and be forced to stop running for awhile.
I have heard many a person (including myself) say that they “made a mistake” or that they “messed up” and relapsed. No they did not. Relapse is not a mistake, relapse is the result of mistake after mistake made which in turn leads us to relapse. Relapse is the result of our EGO, or Easing God Out, that takes place in our lives when we think that we are strong enough to take back control. It was our own strength that got us into the mess to begin with.
Recovery from our addictions or bad habits is a way of life. We have been given a set of 12 steps (which came from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) to follow. We follow those 12 steps in the order that they are written knowing that there are millions who have gone before us who have followed those same steps and have experienced freedom from their hurts, habits and hang-ups.
Like in running, recovery from our addictions is very similar, but also with much greater consequences because whereas an injury in running forces us to stop, a relapse from our addictions pushes us to keep going. Injuries for the most part don’t affect the people around us. Relapse can destroy not only the individual, but also their family members and friends.
Let’s take it a step further. Forget addictions for a minute, what about just plain ol’ bad choices? Improper relationships can lead to affairs. Affairs destroy not only marriages, but the entire family dynamic. Affairs don’t just happen, they come from crossing a line, then another and another. Did you know that children who have seen affairs happen in their own families are more likely to have affairs themselves when they grow up? Just as victims of child abuse are more likely to abuse another child when they are an adult. Bad choices that we make lead to a lifetime of regret not only in our own lives, but in the lives of those around us.
This type of behavior comes from our mistakes. We make one mistake and then another. Our mistakes lead us to crossing lines we never thought we would cross and making choices we never dreamed of making.
We all need recovery! If you have lived in this world long enough you have gotten trampled on at some point. We are all dealing with past and present hurts, habits and hang-ups. The good news is though that you do not have to live a life trapped in the chains of your past anymore. There is a loving God who is just waiting for you to call His name.
There comes a time for each of us when we are unable to recall the pain, guilt, remorse and shame of a month ago, a week ago or even a day ago. Don’t depend on the pain of the past to keep you from doing it again. Allow God to do for you what you are unable to do for yourself.
Greg Coplen