Dropped The Ball? How To Recover Your Fumble

As the NFL Playoffs start this weekend, imagine you’re playing in the Super Bowl. It’s the fourth quarter and there are only ten seconds left on the clock. Your team is down by four points. The lights are bright. The stands are packed, and people are cheering your name. The noise is so loud you can’t even hear your own thoughts. You feel a rush of emotions ranging from excitement, fear, doubt, hope. As your team’s quarterback, you relay the play and get your teammates in position to score. Suddenly, the noise inside the stadium disappears and it becomes so quiet you can hear a pin drop. As you make the call and the ball is snapped all the sound comes flooding back in. You miss the snap; the ball is loose.

It’s a fumble! In a moment of panic, you search for the ball. In less than one second you are overcome by a feeling of defeat as though you’ve let everyone down. Then you see the ball! The ball is by your feet! You can reach it. You pick it up. You RECOVERED the fumble. You run with all your might and the fans begin to scream and cheer louder than ever for you. You cross the goal line for the touchdown! You’ve brought your team to victory! Your teammates surround you and the victory celebration begins as the roar of your fans overtakes you. You fumbled but you recovered. I hope you catch the importance in that. By definition, recovery is a return to a normal state of health, mind, strength or regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost. It is not the end, but a process of taking control of something that you no longer had control of.

This upcoming September will be Recovery Month. Throughout National Recovery Month in September we celebrate recovery in the lives of those who had lost control of their lives, lost their families, their job, money, homes and relationships to substance abuse. The theme for 2021 is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Are Stronger”. As a community there is a need to share resources and build networks to support those in recovery. Just as a football player who fumbled a football and then recovered it, we celebrate those who have recovered their health and sobriety.

Recovery is a continual process of maintaining sobriety. The Sequoyah County PTR (Prevention Training and Recovery) Team’s initiative is to equip all members of the community as a first responder in the event of an opioid overdose through the use of Narcan (click to view previous blog post). The training we provide to members of the community focuses on identifying signs of an opioid overdose and then using Narcan as a recovery tool and also assisting individuals in their recovery process. We want to celebrate in the recovery of your life; regaining control back from when you fumbled.

Written by: Miki Kimble (Sallisaw NOW)