Quit pokin' the bear
 

Awhile back, I sat down with this man who had a long time in recovery to tell him my story. I could have spared him the details because he knew me when he saw me. He said, "you look like an alcoholic, and you act like a drug addict." Ouch. The truth hurts. But I told him my story anyway, and at the end of it he said:
What I hear you telling me is you won't quit poking the bear. There is a bear in a cage, and it's known to be mean, but you think you're tough and you can handle it. So you get in the ring with the bear, and you get beat. But you didn't learn. You say, "I need to get a stick then I can beat the bear." You come back with your stick and you get back in the ring, and again you get your a** kicked. But you're hard headed and you think a bigger stick is what you need to win the next time. Next time it will be different. So back in the ring you go with your big stick, and all you get is a bigger whoopin'. You've already been beaten badly. How much more can you take before you don't get back up again? That bear is big and cunning and powerful. You are not going to beat the bear. Quit pokin' the bear!!
I finally accepted I could not beat the bear. I no longer wanted to fight a fight I was never going to win. I quit pokin' the bear.

Thanks for sharing Griz :)

(You posted in our Daily Support Forum which is only for the continuation of existing threads. I moved it here)

D

Good stuff. Had a good convo yesterday with BIL along the same lines. Flouting authority and picking all the wrong battles. My experience says no but the impish child (AV) says yes, yes, yes. The rush can be obtained in much healthier ways. Like taking the dog out barefoot on this frosty morning (actually I have to bring her back in)--might even wet my head and see if I get pneumonia.

Awesome

That was a huge part for me. Once I finally admitted to myself I couldn't drink like a regular person and if I drank it mwant failure...I surrendered. I wasn't going to fight a battle I couldn't win.

This makes the concept of surrender seem so simple now, but it took me so long to finally get it!

This is a really good analogy, Grizzly. Thank you for posting. Sometimes the simple little stories make so much more sense than the all the complicated words, right? I will remember this.