You don't pick up the phone because you don't want to. You want to drink. Picking up the phone will not allow you to drink. So yes, it's a choice you make. But making the choice to pick up a drink is actually the last in a sequence of thought processes that your mind goes through. It's called alcoholic thinking. You set yourself up to drink, in other words. The answer is not to begin the thought process and you avoid this by (are you ready?) picking up the phone! Yep. Get used to talking to other alcoholics/addicts on the phone. Get a bunch of numbers and begin communicating. You'll find that this will keep your mind focused on recovery, and the thought of picking up a drink again will never begin to form.