As an addendum to my previous post, I'd like to touch on another subject. Pain is often not remembered well, but pleasure certainly is, which is why addictions tend to be so persistent. On pages 122-123 of
Rational Recovery: The New Cure, there is a section titled
"Why Can't I Remember the Pain?", which touches on this phenomenon.
In the early months after making my Big Plan, I was still able to readily recall the pain of active addiction, but as time went on, this became more difficult to do. I can certainly remember that it felt bad, hopeless, etc, and I can recall some losses, but the actual pain itself not so much. On the one hand, this is good, but it also means that I have forgotten somewhat why I quit in the first place. In AVRT, though, it is not necessary to constantly re-hash the misery of the past, to think through the drink, to remember your last drunk, or to do a cost-benefit analysis every time you see a beer.
The Big Plan can replace any and all original reasons for quitting, and we can let the sands of time wash over and bury our addiction. Of course, this means that we actually have to remember that we made a Big Plan, and this is where the moral imperative aspect is also useful. I may not remember all of my original reasons for making my Big Plan, or all the feelings that led up to it, but I do know that I made it for good reasons, and that I was in my right mind at the time. Internalizing it as a moral imperative ensures that I won't forget it, and that what others think about it is irrelevant.
So, for your consideration:
Can you ever forget your Big Plan?