Sisyphus
Day 171, used under the CC 1.0 Public Domain License
I can't find the reference right now, but I read that there was a philosopher who used Sisyphus as an example of a good life. The reasoning as I understand it goes like this:
Sisyphus has a given task. It has a specific end state, and it is one that can be reached on a daily basis. Every day he has to get that boulder to that peak. As he does this on a daily basis he can improve his technique, he can start to measure his performance today against his performance yesterday. Also his ability to move the boulder increases on a daily basis. The ancient myths don't tell us if the dead can bulk up, but they seem to have mostly human characteristics, so let's also assume that Sisyphus is getting stronger. If you compare Sisyphus' job to any other person's daily, menial jobs, it's no worse than, say, cleaning the house, even though it will get dirty again, or the annual cycle of planting/tending/harvesting/preparing that is farm work.
So, if I look at addiction recovery the same way, I can say that I have a daily, repeatable task. The task resets every day, and my job is to increase my performance on a daily basis. Also, regardless of Sisyphus' status, I am human and therefore can grow and improve.
So I'm trying to look at my recent setbacks in this light. Instead of seeing them as failures, they represent a chance to start again, look at what I did right last time, improve my technique, and push that boulder back up that hill.