08/18/2026
A flat tire doesn't mean you drive back to the start.
If you're driving from Salt Lake to Vegas and you get a flat tire in St. George, you don't tow yourself all the way back home to fix it. You patch it up right where you are and keep moving forward toward Vegas.
Josh Otani, LMFT, uses this simple picture to reframe something so many people in recovery believe: that a slip-up erases all the progress they've made. It doesn't. A setback isn't a reason to start over, it's just a place to pull over, get the help you need, and keep going.
Progress, not perfection.
Listen to the full conversation with Josh Otani here:
https://youtu.be/SaMvw_jCQ0Y