There is no universal definition of recovery. Researchers, advocates, behavioral health professionals, and those of us with lived and living experience have never come up with one that we all agree upon.
I happen to think that not having a solid, static definition is a good thing. It opens the door to empower us all to create individualized and diverse definitions for our own recovery, and it's a reminder that recovery differs across populations, cultures, and settings.
Broadly speaking, recovery is a lifelong journey that takes time, looks different for each person, and may have many starts and stops along the way. I don't think we need to define it more than that, do you?
Recovery is . .
. a practice.