Hey Athletes; How are you all doing out there? The good, the bad, the ugly, lets talk.

Good morning Athlete's. Watching you all take your place in recovery I think its so important to remember that somewhere in your past, you heard a sentence that changed your self-image. “I am an addict.” It was offered like a truth, like a diagnosis you were supposed to carry forever. But listen closely: an identity label can become a cage when your inner critic uses it as a weapon. Not to help you recover, just to keep you predictable, small, and stuck in victimhood. Because again, here’s the question no one asks out loud: Did you ever wake up as a child wanting to become an addict? When you day dreamed, you weren’t fantasizing about craving, relapse cycles, hiding, and shame. You had bigger goals. You were emotionally invested in becoming something, someone with purpose, momentum, discipline, and a life you actually wanted to live. Back then, the future pulled you forward. Athletes, that negative self identifying comment, your inner critic’s voice, is not neutral. It’s designed to make you surrender. It doesn’t say, “Here’s what happened.” It says, “Here’s who you are.” And when your brain believes you are that identity, it stops asking for a new life. It starts defending the old one. That’s why recovery feels harder for some people: not because they lack effort, but because their identity has been handed to them like a uniform they never asked to wear. I truly believe recovery isn’t about pretending your past didn’t exist. Recovery is about refusing to let the past become your personality. Addiction used to give you something: relief, escape, a fast emotional off-switch, control when life felt chaotic. It was a coping tool—whether you chose it consciously or not. A strategy can become a habit. A habit can become a prison. But a prison isn’t the same thing as your true self. So here’s the reframe that champions of recovery live by: - Addiction was the behavior. - The label is the story. - The choice is your identity moving forward. When you decide to leave addiction behind and pursue a new life, you don’t become something “less.” You become something more accurate.

Your Starting Line

I was hoping to make it tonight but just got out of a meeting that ran long (super cool meeting though so not complaining). See y’all next week!

Hi guys I just wanted to reach out because I'm struggling bad. Today I went home after being in Utah county for a week and I found that my husband relapsed. I am so heart broken and sad. I did the only thing I could do which was to leave. It was the one of the hardest things to do to walk away. I told him I wasn't leaving him but I needed to come back up to my sister's which is a safe place. I need to keep myself safe. I told him I couldn't be around him. He's mean, he places blame he's not my husband. So why is it so hard I know I'm doing what's right but why do I feel like I abandoned him. We were supposed to get sealed in the temple, he was getting off parole in May, he was doing so good. I am just so sad, pissed, hurt, angry. I want to scream. Did I do the right thing? Did I over react?