Originally Posted by
LaVallette 
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I could not get my head around the “powerlessness” concept. I have a military background and am still in a paramilitary career. When faced with an obstacle I want to overcome it, not surrender. Through this forum I discovered Rational Recovery, I did the internet crash course yesterday and have made my Big Plan. I will never drink again and I will never change my mind. The RR book is on its way to my place. There is also a once-weekly SMART meeting nearby that I intend on going to, as long as it’s not counter-productive to RR. Although I have seen folks on this board who have made a success of combining a few different recovery modalities.
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Matt.
Congratulations Matt,
When looking at
drinking-some-more as "an obstacle I want to overcome", the Big Plan satisfies that desire perfectly. The Big Plan is so logical and precise all by itself that it defies any further need of explanation.
What cannot be overcome by anyone is the 'obstacle' of
thinking-of-drinking.
Thinking-of-drinking is a perceived obstacle right in front you which has been blocking you from getting on with your life for a number of years. It had been that way with me, too. For me, making not-swallowing-alcohol an ongoing group project magnifies the obstacle of
thinking-of-drinking way out of proportion in my mind. It just doesn't work for me.
AVRT simply takes that perceived obstacle and shows you how to shift it from directly in front of you to a few yards to the left or the right, out of your direct line of "I" thought and action. This way it fairly quickly becomes an idea you can either stop, turn, and look at, or pass quickly by.
Another analogy would be to look at
drinking-some-more like a friendly guy in your unit you just found out was a mole, but you can't get rid of him because you've been ordered to play him for a strategic reason. You will listen to him (
think-of-drinking), but you will trust him as far as you can throw a piano.
So, AVRT has nothing to do with a brute force sort of control, it's all about sticking to that OATH and, sad as IT may make us feel, facing the loss of that pleasure ... for me and you ... a wrongful pleasure.
Also, after making a Big Plan, my whole relationship with recovery and recovering people took a very good sharp turn that I found quite refreshing.
GT