Summary: In this episode of You and I 4 the Kenai, Zack tells a story of recovery that is blunt and upfront, and it provides all of us with good insights and reminders. He discusses many things, one of which is that recovery is hard. He says that many times he found people theorizing or romanticizing the recovery process, and claiming it was so healing and immensely freeing. And, while he wasn't denying that recovery can bring healing and freedom, he was saying that it cost something - that it can be hard. While recovery brought many good things into his life, it also required him to kick a dope habit, to start being honest, and to look at things that he didn't always like when he did look at them; and that only romanticizing or gleefully embracing the recovery process as pain-free growth was inaccurate. Was it worth it? Yes. Was it pain-free and easy? By no means. Another interesting point Zack makes is that his time using was like an Ostrich with his head in the sand. After getting his head out of the sand, he both needed and was able to start cleaning up both the internal and external messes. This provides good insight for everyone - pulling the head out of the sand is hard, painful, and scary, but seeing a mess and having to learn to live in the elements again can be equally as hard, painful, and scary. Getting sober is only the first part, and there are still things to work on. This is like what Zack says during the podcast when he says that when you sober up a horse thief, you simply have a sober horse thief. You have to learn to stop being a horse thief. Zack providing the perspective that recovery is difficult and that getting sober is only the first - and not always the easiest - part is very helpful for us as community members. We should understand that our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and friends in recovery are not in a problem-solved stage of life, and they still need our support more than ever. *Content Not Suitable For Children*
