Daily Recovery Reading – September 23, 2025 – Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention starts with awareness. Cravings, stress, and risky situations don’t appear out of nowhere. They build over time. Learning to see the early warning signs gives you a chance to act before the spiral starts.

Build your recovery around daily habits. Meetings, calls, prayer, meditation, journaling, and honest conversations all create a safety net. The more consistent your habits, the stronger your safety net.

Relapse prevention is also about honesty. Admit when you’re slipping. Ask for help before the crisis hits. Recovery isn’t about perfection. It’s about catching yourself early and responding with action.

Each time you stay present, reach out, and follow through on a healthy coping skill, you prove you’re stronger than the pull of old behaviors.

Reader Prompts

• What are my personal warning signs that I’m drifting toward relapse?
• What is one daily action I can take today to strengthen my safety net?

My Reflection

There have been many times I’ve caught myself showing early signs of relapse. In the beginning it almost always started with isolation and avoiding commitments I had made. That was my first big warning sign. Staying in contact with others in recovery has been the most important factor for me. When I isolate, I drift. When I reach out, I stay grounded.

For me, relapse starts with irrational thinking and negative self-beliefs. If I don’t challenge those thoughts, they grow. My close friends in recovery and my sponsor are the first people I reach out to when I feel off. They see things in me that I might miss.

I’ve learned that relapses begin long before the first use. Once I pick up, the relapse is already over and I’m in active use. Knowing this changed how I respond to stress and mood shifts. When something feels off, I address it right away. Waiting only makes it worse.