Overconfidence

What is the difference between being confident in recovery and being overconfident in recovery?

I was thinking about this as someone in a chat mentioned something called the "pink cloud," a time when people who are recovering are almost "giddy" with their new way of life, and they think they are invincible somehow. This "high" is then shattered when they do something like relapse.

I will admit that I have been somewhat "giddy" over the last week or so. But I hope I am not overconfident.

The program of recovery I'm in (not AA) gives me a number of "tools" to assess situations, attitudes, emotions, and life experiences. Along with meetings and chatting with people and asking for help when needed, this has helped me to feel confident that - if I'm prepared - I can handle myself in situations where I might be tempted.

One thing that has kept me from getting overconfident is the fact that I am still cleaning up messes from before I started recovery. And there are some stressors that are coming up soon related to work that will test my peace of mind, I am sure.

So, to me, confidence is knowing that I have the tools to cope, if I use them. Overconfidence would be if I got to a point where I didn't think I needed to prepare, or use the tools, and tried to cope on my own. Overconfidence is me saying "I got this."