Steps Back

Three steps forward ten steps back.

That's the life of living with mental illness.
Everytime you make progress you have a slip up
It feels like you never move forward; you are either moving backwards or in stillness.
Life leaves you completely and utterly beat-up.

You get so proud that you get ahead of yourself,
And the next thing you know you are right back where you were.
And everything just comes rushing back, and you don’t how to help yourself
Everything, your mind, your body, and your heart becomes a blur.

The road to recovery isn't straight.
You have your ups and downs and there will always be steps back.
It can be very discouraging, and can be something I hate,
And sadly seeing the progress in the whole steps back is something most people lack.

In the emotional whirlwind you can’t see how far you have come.
So I encourage you to take a mindful step back and think.
Who were you? And what have you become?
And it can either take time to realize or be as quick as a blink.

Because progress takes time and you may not realize how much you have done.
In the beginning there will be more steps back.
But you have come so far and yet you have still only just begun,
And you realize that you are taking more steps forward than back.

And in this time I encourage you to be proud of yourself.
The road to recovery isn’t and will never be easy or straight.
But be proud of what you see in the mirror when you look at yourself,
And with your ups and down you will still continue to get better, and it doesn't matter if it's at a fast or slow rate.

And with all that said, before you backtrack or have a panic attack.
Just remember,
Ten steps forward and three steps back.