hey guys....
I was away from the boards this weekend and today, I caught up on a few posts and I have to tell you that Allie's post really touched my heart. Thanks A, because it applies to so many facets of my life right now. It really helps me as I am really starting this new journey.Here it is for the ones who did not read it. everyone...2 days till March Madness!!
Her post .....
Sylvia,
Your honesty has really touched me, and I thank you. You hit a chord that I think everyone of us struggles with... fear. Fear of life without alcohol. Will it really be better? Surely it must, but what will we do instead? We imagine a healthier life, but a more boring one. And like you, nothing seems to take its place. But, I think what we have to "re-program" ourselves to is TRUTH. I think the "lie" that we all believe, is that once we give up alcohol, we will somehow live a boring life and may never find anything to help us through the tough times.
I honestly believe that so much of why we drink is psychological rather than a "physical addiction." We believe in our minds that we have to have it (which is a lie), so we drink it. We feel better, so we re-inforce the lie that we have always believed.
But what if your bank ran an offer to you because you are a valued customer who has banked with them for years. The offer is this: If you will give them a ten dollar bill, they will exchange it for you and give you a hundred dollar bill back, simply as their way of saying, thank you for being such a valued customer. So you are standing at the bank, the teller on the other side, and she is offering the hundred dollar bill to you, and with her other hand is reaching out to take your ten. Well... we glady make the exchange, because we can SEE that hundred dollar bill. We know the value is so much more than our measly ten dollar bill. Is it hard to "sacrifice" our precious ten dollar bill? Of course not! Because we can know for sure that what we are getting in exchange holds much more value.
So why is it so difficult to exhange our "ten dollar alcohol" for the hundred dollar life?? Because we cannot SEE this new life. But just because we cannot see it, has NOTHING to do with the fact that is TRULY exists. I dont mean to get spiritual, but I do believe that it is the truth that sets us free. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Hebrews 11:1. It says:"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Wow.... the evidence of things not seen. I tend to want the "evidence" BEFORE I will believe, but this is the opposite of faith. Faith is believing in that which you cannot see. I am trying to really change the way that I think, and just begin "deciding" that life is better without this encumberance on me, and just start acting like it. I trust my feelings will line up with my actions eventually. Its like putting a smile on your face and choosing to have a great day even when you feel like crap. At some point, I imagine it will be harder and harder to feel like crap with a smile on my face. I will probably feel a lot better by the end of the day, and there's a good chance I might even feel the way my face looks. But if I tell everyone who says hello to me my woes and how miserable I am, then I will probably end the day worse than I even began it.
Having experienced the difference in value of having a ten dollar budget at the clothing store versus a hundred dollar budget, we know the difference in the rewards. We know in our minds that we are holding onto the alcohol just like the ten dollar bill, somehow locked into a myth we created that it will buy us more. We are like a child who doesnt know the difference in the value of a bubble gum ring versus true gold, and so we hold on with sweaty palms to our bubble gum rings, in fear that there is no ring more beautiful.
So this is how I am mentally trying to break the stronghold of lies that I have believed for so many years. By "renewing my mind" in this way, and reading the posts, posting to others, I have noticed a HUGE decrease in the amount of alcohol I have been drinking. I have not recieved any of the supplements or Topa, so I am encouraged to see what a difference the support of others, and my daily struggle to believe truth instead of lies, has made.
But I am not there yet, these are just the tools I am using today, and they are working little by little. I am sorry to ramble.... but that's part of the therapy right?
Have a wonderful day, and remember hundred dollar bills... not tens!!!
Allie
I was away from the boards this weekend and today, I caught up on a few posts and I have to tell you that Allie's post really touched my heart. Thanks A, because it applies to so many facets of my life right now. It really helps me as I am really starting this new journey.Here it is for the ones who did not read it. everyone...2 days till March Madness!!
Her post .....
Sylvia,
Your honesty has really touched me, and I thank you. You hit a chord that I think everyone of us struggles with... fear. Fear of life without alcohol. Will it really be better? Surely it must, but what will we do instead? We imagine a healthier life, but a more boring one. And like you, nothing seems to take its place. But, I think what we have to "re-program" ourselves to is TRUTH. I think the "lie" that we all believe, is that once we give up alcohol, we will somehow live a boring life and may never find anything to help us through the tough times.
I honestly believe that so much of why we drink is psychological rather than a "physical addiction." We believe in our minds that we have to have it (which is a lie), so we drink it. We feel better, so we re-inforce the lie that we have always believed.
But what if your bank ran an offer to you because you are a valued customer who has banked with them for years. The offer is this: If you will give them a ten dollar bill, they will exchange it for you and give you a hundred dollar bill back, simply as their way of saying, thank you for being such a valued customer. So you are standing at the bank, the teller on the other side, and she is offering the hundred dollar bill to you, and with her other hand is reaching out to take your ten. Well... we glady make the exchange, because we can SEE that hundred dollar bill. We know the value is so much more than our measly ten dollar bill. Is it hard to "sacrifice" our precious ten dollar bill? Of course not! Because we can know for sure that what we are getting in exchange holds much more value.
So why is it so difficult to exhange our "ten dollar alcohol" for the hundred dollar life?? Because we cannot SEE this new life. But just because we cannot see it, has NOTHING to do with the fact that is TRULY exists. I dont mean to get spiritual, but I do believe that it is the truth that sets us free. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Hebrews 11:1. It says:"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Wow.... the evidence of things not seen. I tend to want the "evidence" BEFORE I will believe, but this is the opposite of faith. Faith is believing in that which you cannot see. I am trying to really change the way that I think, and just begin "deciding" that life is better without this encumberance on me, and just start acting like it. I trust my feelings will line up with my actions eventually. Its like putting a smile on your face and choosing to have a great day even when you feel like crap. At some point, I imagine it will be harder and harder to feel like crap with a smile on my face. I will probably feel a lot better by the end of the day, and there's a good chance I might even feel the way my face looks. But if I tell everyone who says hello to me my woes and how miserable I am, then I will probably end the day worse than I even began it.
Having experienced the difference in value of having a ten dollar budget at the clothing store versus a hundred dollar budget, we know the difference in the rewards. We know in our minds that we are holding onto the alcohol just like the ten dollar bill, somehow locked into a myth we created that it will buy us more. We are like a child who doesnt know the difference in the value of a bubble gum ring versus true gold, and so we hold on with sweaty palms to our bubble gum rings, in fear that there is no ring more beautiful.
So this is how I am mentally trying to break the stronghold of lies that I have believed for so many years. By "renewing my mind" in this way, and reading the posts, posting to others, I have noticed a HUGE decrease in the amount of alcohol I have been drinking. I have not recieved any of the supplements or Topa, so I am encouraged to see what a difference the support of others, and my daily struggle to believe truth instead of lies, has made.
But I am not there yet, these are just the tools I am using today, and they are working little by little. I am sorry to ramble.... but that's part of the therapy right?
Have a wonderful day, and remember hundred dollar bills... not tens!!!
Allie
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