LoftyIdeals

Our own Dee74 introduced me to this concept in early recovery. And I'm indebted to him for it. The concept, as I understand it, is that when your Alcoholic Voice (AV) tries to tell you that you could get away with drinking, under whatever circumstances pertain to you at the time, you should imagine what that would be like to the end. Alternatively, if you are already romanticising the fantasy of a drink already, don't just see the glamour, the festivity, and the fun of the drink. Rather, see it through to the next day, the next week, and so on. Be honest with yourself about what one drink would lead to in terms of temptation or just plain caving in to the booze. You may get away with one or two today, but next week, when you are at a friends house, you may then rationalize that the previous time wasn't so bad, etc., and pretty soon you find yourself in a daily habit, and worse. That's how cunning, baffling, and powerful the insidious little devil is.

Anyway, I was at the grocery store today, where I am not tempted by booze at all, and I was able to play the film all the way through on many other healthy matters in my life. Decisions regarding what to buy, how much to spend, how what I buy would be used in a meal, etc. This may seem like normal stuff to most, but that habit of playing the movie to the end of the reel was very helpful in regular life. Simply put, I was planning properly.

It occurred to me on the way home from the store that I haven't seen this concept up here recently so I thought I'd add it today.

BUT...I am hoping Dee74 will further elaborate, as I'm sure I haven't captured the entire concept correctly.

hypochondriac

This was invaluable to me too...I can't remember who mentioned it to me first but they said to 'think the drink through'. Generally I only have to play out a few hours or a day to make the cravings stop.

instant

It combats the tyranny of what we "need now"

Dee74

I think you explained it pretty well Lofty

As a drinker, I was a very short term thinker - I was always a 'right now' guy - satisfy that desire! sort out the mess tomorrow!

When I was trying to quit, playing the tape (or film) through to the end...
stopping....remembering what really happened all those times I thought a 'few drinks' might be good....that really did save me more than a few times...forcing myself to remember the bad consequences of my past drinking really slowed my roll.

Having my old posts here (along with everyone else's) to read has helped too.

I'm not sure now who introduced the concept to me here - but it really did work for me

D

Jitterbugg

Makes sense! This could work for me very well since that first drink often ended with me waking up in a jail cell...

Thanks!

soberred

Brilliant! I am going to try that sometime. Thank you for sharing.

eJoshua

Yes that's been key for me. It's important for me to remember not only that staying sober will better equip me to pursue my life goals, etc, but possibly even more importantly that drinking today will make me miserable tomorrow. For some reason, reminding myself of the negative aspects of my addictions is even more effective at keeping me sober than trying to remember the positive aspects of sobriety. Sort of like the "I deserve a drink" thread that I posted a few days ago -- those are the things I need to remember.

Hevyn

It definitely saved me from relapse more than once. Thanks Lofty for the reminder.