I watched a college football game this weekend. There’s nothing really unusual about that, in and of itself, but this was a renewal of an old rivalry between “My” Texas Longhorns and the Arkansas Razorbacks. For decades, literally my entire lifetime, this was a classic match up. Then as college football grew in prowess and with the advent of conferences and super conferences, the two teams found themselves separated and rarely played one another. With UT joining the SEC this season, we once again get treated to all that comes with a rivalry between two teams that don’t like each other much. I guess that as Longhorns fans we don’t really like the other guys, but there is a special level of vitriol that Razorback fans feel toward us. They were anxious for a repeat of our last meeting where they handed us our teeth and showed us the door.

They didn’t get what they hoped for…

They wanted a return to the “glory days”, but as the Boss warned us, those days are gone. What happened was a very good team came in and beat another fairly good team on their home turf. Thanks a lot, and we’ll catch you next time.

In my recovery it can be easy to look back at the glory days and think that it might be nice to do all of that again. Humans tend to romanticize the past. We tend to forget the things that caused us trouble and hope for the best. But there’s a reason we got into this whole recovery thing in the first place. It’s not the life that anyone (other than fools) wanted for us.

So don’t erase those memories. Remind yourself about the good times in the past, but remain aware that you are in a better place now. Horns up, focus forward, and…

–Rise Up!!