"I need to remind myself that relapsing will not help anything. Picking up again may bring some immediate comfort in these disorienting, fraught, and perilous times. But that comfort is illusory, a product of the trickster properties of alcohol and other drugs. There's nothing that relapse makes better. Drinking again will not make the world a kinder, fairer, and more just place. It will not make me a better or happier person."
"I know that my family, friends, neighbors, and communities need me. My dog needs me. I need me. I risk losing everything I love and value if I start drinking again. Yet, there's still a voice whisper shouting to me, "Go ahead. Have a drink or two or ten." With so much out of my control, I cannot abdicate the control that I do have. I can control if I pick up again."
"I have been able to do so much that matters to me because I no longer drink. I have tended familial relationships, cultivated friendships, taught for 30 years, and lived my moral and political commitments. Blackout Drinker Peg couldn't really even imagine these things; Sober Peg knows to protect and cherish them. If I were to relapse, I know I would not be able to live my commitments in the ways I believe they deserve. I would unintentionally sideline myself; I would not be involved"
Relapsing offers temporary comfort but ultimately undermines values, relationships, and commitments. Alcohol and other drugs create illusory relief that does not improve external conditions or personal moral aims. Relapse risks losing family, community, work, and the self that has sustained long-term commitments. Relapses follow a sequence of small decisions often made without intention, making vigilance over choices essential. Retaining control over whether to drink is a crucial, actionable safeguard. Recognizing achievements gained through sobriety encourages protection of those gains and the continued practice of moral, political, and relational responsibilities.
Read at Psychology Today
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