-Katie, Pavillon Alumni

First things first: my name is Katie and I’m in recovery. My life is full, joyful, manageable, and TOTALLY imperfect.

It’s 10:00am and the bed isn’t made. I haven’t unpacked from my weekend trip to the beach. I haven’t mailed that Thank You note to my Godmother. Told my folks I’d visit them today. I’m also planning to stop by a get-together hosted by a program friend, and I was asked to bring the Red Bull energy drinks (with which I have a love/hate relationship). Later, I’m supposed to lead a book study at a meeting I’ve never attended, on a topic I haven’t chosen. Meanwhile, leaves on the elm outside my apartment are changing from green to yellow and orange.

I remember this inspirational quote from a sign my friends and I noticed the other day: “We will do less to get more.” We actually thought it sounded pretty stupid at first. It appeared to be a perfect mantra for us to be lazy, selfish and manipulative. Hey wait a minute…this WAS my mantra a few years ago! And uh-oh…I might still have to keep these tendencies in check.

Still, recovery allows me to think of that quote in a different way: I can keep it simple. Just like Mother Nature takes us one changing leaf at a time into Fall, I can do small things with good intentions.

So I guess it’s time to make the bed.