soberlicious

I have a little different take on this. The ways we "keep shooting at it" are varied, and some are more effective than others. I will use this analogy, and it may not make sense to some but it works for me. I had this dog I got from the pound. He was an uncontrollable jumper. I tried everything I knew but he jumped on me, the kids, everyone who entered the house. People didn't even want to come over. I put him away for periods, but when let out the jumping started all over again. I had a trainer come to the house. I told the guy, "he's going to jump and knock you over when you come in, just keep yelling at him to stop" (like I had the answer LOL) he replied, "Oh, he won't jump on me". When the guy got there, the dog was jumping and scratching at the door. When I opened it, the dog began to jump, but the trainer calmly put his hand down, did not make eye contact, did not even acknowledge the dog really. He began talking to me. He did not engage whatsoever with the dog. The dog just sat there and I'm telling you I could not believe my eyes.
By not engaging with the "addict mind", by fully understanding that all thoughts that even remotely have to do with drinking or using are all lies, that some such thoughts are cleverly disguised but they too are lies, then the full force battle and all the anxiety that goes along with it do not have to be employed. Some who use AVRT may understand this form of "beast whispering".