I embraced this thinking as I was breaking free. Instead of drowning myself in guilt over unanticipated relapses, I measured my sobriety differently. A three week binge after a relapse didn't scratch the 7 months of continuous sobriety I'd accumulated prior. I kept close track. Even when it was only a couple of weeks after a slip, my 8 and a half months out of year without alcohol was major freaking progress for me, and I knew it. (In spite of how that's viewed by established approaches to quitting) Shaming people just feels unevolved, and if we're sincerely interested in advancing our approaches to recovery, we need to rethink how we determine progress and achievement. Good lord, I've read where people have only had one drink and were shamefully sent to the back of the line to start over...... and lost their chip. For people like me, that's not just unhelpful, it's detrimental to progress!
Thanks man. Good work!