Duncan & Paul: A Family’s Recovery Journey
When my husband and I were asked to share our reflections on this month’s theme, “Clearing the Ground” and how it resonated with us as we support our brother through his recovery journey, from abroad as well, we immediately thought of gardening and the similarities. So please bear with us…and our gardening analogy.
We are both keen gardeners, and at this time of year, when the weather is not great our thoughts turn to January and planning for the year ahead and better weather still to come. Although nothing much is happening at this time of year, now is the perfect time to start planning for the year ahead — what are we going to plant, what is the goal for our garden this year, and how do we want it to look by the summer?
The best place to start is having a look back at last year, and ask a few questions: What went well? What successes did we have and want to continue next year? What obstacles did we have, and how did we overcome them? What lessons did we learn that we can use in the year ahead? Did we try anything new, and how successful was it?
Winter is the ideal time to clear the ground ready for a new growing season. Clearing up the clutter from last year, removing the old plants, tidying up all those things that could get in the way of a successful year.
As with recovery, in gardening there are no certainties. You can plan for all eventualities, but something you haven’t planned for will always come along and throw an obstacle in your way. Too much rain, not enough sun, planting something in the wrong place, caterpillars eating your tomatoes, the list goes on. But what we’ve learnt is that it is how you deal with these situations that makes a difference, and turn them into opportunities.
Ask for help, speak to people, use all the resources and knowledge that you have. Even if you don’t have all the answers to deal with these obstacles, within the gardening community, much like in recovery there are plenty of people and experts who have been through similar situations, and are only too willing to share their experiences and help you out. Much like meeting NFR coaches Jimmy and Cam from this year, they certainly filled us with confidence that our brother is in the best hands to flourish.
Keeping on top of clearing the weeds, making sure the ground has enough nutrients to help grow healthy plants and clearing away anything that stops our plants having enough room to grow, are all on-going things we can do, with the end goal of having a successful garden.
We have clarity on one thing — our end goal, and we know we will have a successful garden this year. Will it end up looking exactly like we envisage now? Probably not. We know there will be challenges, but by clearing the ground, keeping on top of the daily and weekly maintenance, dealing with obstacles as they come up and by using the knowledge of all the experts around us, it will probably end up looking even better.
Wish everyone a successful 2026.