Temptation is EVERYWHERE!
The wine isle at the grocery, street signs, magazine ads, tempt us everyday!
Staying sober is tough!
There is only one addiction that is harder to beat than alcohol or drug addiction, and that is food addiction.
An alcoholic can avoid the wine section. A drug addict can avoid movies that they have heard have a lot of drug use in them. Still an addict has to make a decision on a daily basis to not pick up.
I do not wake up every morning and say, “I am absolutely not going to use today. However, there are dozens of decisions each day that need to be made. There are feelings that need to be kept in check.
Should I take an extra Valium because I feel a bit anxious? Sure I have a cough, but does that mean that I need to take an extra 20 mg. of Diazapam twice a day, instead of just 10?
I will tell you one thing, there is definitely not a guardian angel on my right shoulder, smacking my hand, or flicking me in the middle of my forehead every time I think of reaching for something, or thinking a thought that I should not.
I have to take it upon myself, sometimes every moment of every day to make the correct choices . It is up to me to make a decision every moment of everyday as to whether I want to live my life, or eventually wind up as some brain dead junkie in a gutter somewhere.
It is my choice whether or not I decide to hold my head up high today.
It is my choice to decide whom I call on the phone, whether I enjoy spending time with my wife. My son. Or whether I allow myself to become distracted and not pay attention to the things that really count.
Sometimes, I get a break, things are going well, my head is clear, and I hardly have to even think about sobriety.
I am one of the lucky ones, however, I have a blog, where I get to write everyday and remind myself of who I was, what happened, and who I am now. And that?
That is a really big deal!
And I truly feel sorry for those who haven’t got a choice.
Who have to go to 12 Step Meetings, who either white knuckle it, or get it, or those who get the chance to go to a holistic program, and perhaps, REALLY make it!
To say that sobriety is a choice and not a guarantee is like saying that you are about to cross a four-lane highway, with your eyes closed at a very slow pace.
Nothing in life is a guarantee, but some choices are far more stupid than others.
Stop, think, consider (hard) the pros and the cons, and then, and only then make a decision.
If I have a bad day, which fortunately I have far fewer of today, then I talk about it with either my wife, or a good friend that is intimately familiar with my history.
If I am having a good day, I do the same.
