Newbies Nest
Surrender is difficult for us.
The True Nature of Surrender in Quitting Booze
Sections:
* Denial and the struggle for control
* Can positive motivation lead to surrender?
* Hitting bottom as a method of release
* Discovering willingness and massive action as a means to sobriety
* The reward for surrender
I have written in the past about how to stop drinking, but I wanted to take a closer look at the mechanics of breaking through to sobriety. It is one thing to be living a great life in recovery, but how do we actually get there? This is the great struggle of the newcomer to recovery, and it is this attempt to cross the barrier that keeps so many alcoholics stuck in a miserable state of being.
Denial and the struggle for control
Denial is all about trying to stay on the hamster wheel and appear somewhat normal. The alcoholic tries to maintain and stay somewhat happy through being self medicated all the time. This becomes a difficult balancing act because the alcoholic will realize that they cannot really enjoy themselves with their drinking unless they let lose completely and drink as much as they want. But at the same time, they know that they have a tendency to get into trouble when they do so, and so they struggle to restrict their drinking in order to maintain control.
This struggle for control plays a central role in the life of the alcoholic and it cannot be overcome without complete surrender. The surrender is defined by the absence of this struggle for control. Once this is dropped, then recovery can begin. But if the alcoholic is still trying to maintain this struggle, then they are not ready to stop drinking. Until they do let go of this great struggle, they are still trapped in denial, believing that they might somehow both enjoy and control their drinking at the same time.
Surrender happens when the alcoholic transcends this struggle for control and accepts the idea that they could abstain from alcohol entirely.
This is not so much an action step. It is sort of like the opposite of action. Surrender is a release. The alcoholic is letting go of something.
Read on:
The True Nature of Surrender in Quitting Booze
Surrender is difficult for us.
The True Nature of Surrender in Quitting Booze
Sections:
* Denial and the struggle for control
* Can positive motivation lead to surrender?
* Hitting bottom as a method of release
* Discovering willingness and massive action as a means to sobriety
* The reward for surrender
I have written in the past about how to stop drinking, but I wanted to take a closer look at the mechanics of breaking through to sobriety. It is one thing to be living a great life in recovery, but how do we actually get there? This is the great struggle of the newcomer to recovery, and it is this attempt to cross the barrier that keeps so many alcoholics stuck in a miserable state of being.
Denial and the struggle for control
Denial is all about trying to stay on the hamster wheel and appear somewhat normal. The alcoholic tries to maintain and stay somewhat happy through being self medicated all the time. This becomes a difficult balancing act because the alcoholic will realize that they cannot really enjoy themselves with their drinking unless they let lose completely and drink as much as they want. But at the same time, they know that they have a tendency to get into trouble when they do so, and so they struggle to restrict their drinking in order to maintain control.
This struggle for control plays a central role in the life of the alcoholic and it cannot be overcome without complete surrender. The surrender is defined by the absence of this struggle for control. Once this is dropped, then recovery can begin. But if the alcoholic is still trying to maintain this struggle, then they are not ready to stop drinking. Until they do let go of this great struggle, they are still trapped in denial, believing that they might somehow both enjoy and control their drinking at the same time.
Surrender happens when the alcoholic transcends this struggle for control and accepts the idea that they could abstain from alcohol entirely.
This is not so much an action step. It is sort of like the opposite of action. Surrender is a release. The alcoholic is letting go of something.
Read on:
The True Nature of Surrender in Quitting Booze
. Rather than retype what I thought I just posted, I'll just check in to say I made it through day 3. It was touch and go twice and could easily have gone the other way.
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