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Old 02-03-2014, 07:54 PM
  # 8 (permalink)  
freshstart57
Self recovered Self discovered
 
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 5,148
The AV that is easy to recognize is the one that says 'You deserve a drink after that day you just had. How about a couple of beers with the buddies?'. Or it says, 'You better accept that glass of wine, you don't want to look all weird, do you?'. Or 'You almost drank sensibly last weekend, this time you can do it for sure'. Or 'What's a cookout without margaritas?'.

The trickier AV is the one that makes you doubt yourself and your self worth, the one that plays on your fears and insecurities. That is the nasty one. It says, 'Just look at yourself. You'll never quit drinking! Who do you think you are kidding?'. It says 'Even if you could quit drinking, you certainly can't do it today'. 'You'll never be really done drinking, you are going to have to battle this forever', and the big one, 'You don't deserve to be sober, you're a bum'.

All of these thoughts, if you choose to believe they belong to that misguided drive for pleasure, can be dismissed. If you have chosen to not drink again, then these thoughts don't belong to you anymore, and you can let them flip and flop and whine and complain. They are just thoughts and will come and then they will go, and can't make you do anything you don't choose to do. These thoughts are powerless because you say so, and that is enough.

That's my take on AV.
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