Just Another Personal Thread
The theme of the Psycho-Cybernetics book is mainly that every person has a self concept and our actions align themselves with that self concept. Therefore when trying to change a behavior in our life, will power alone won't work if the action we are trying to take is out of sync with the self concept we have of ourselves. Eventually the subconscious will realign behavior with self concept. It's almost like an honesty thing.
In light of this, I have been imagining myself to myself as a person who takes care of my body. I am not using will power to avoid certain foods or al (at least I haven't needed to yet.) but as I go through my day I just kind of "rejoice" in the idea that I love my body, am thankful for my body and I want to take care of it. I am imagining myself as a healthy, glowing person, eating good things and being thankful for good, healthy food. All week I have been eating all meals and eating the best I can at each one. This is really good for me because in the past I was a "drink coffee till the gut rot kills you and then chips and salsa over the sink" sort of person. I would try to clean up my eating habits, but after a few days I would just fall back into the old ways because something would come up, distract my attention and (I believe) when I wasn't exercising will power I would fall back to what was consistent with my self concept. So it's a small nuance, maybe, but now instead of thinking "no more sugar, no more chips" etc. I'm just reminding myself of the person I am. I am a person who is grateful for my body and I don't put garbage into it.
I think I saw a small victory in this the other day. I was going to walk up to the store to get a few things for dinner. I like to walk and I usually would get a little something to sip on on the way home. Sometimes alcoholic, but also sometimes pop, if I was going to a bigger store with a good natural food section, I might get a mineral water too, it just depends on the day. But walking slowly with a little something to sip on is a quiet ritual I have with myself. My house is noisy and busy and it's a time to just have some quiet space to myself, looking at people's yards, the birds, enjoying the wind, etc.
So, this time I was going to a smaller store nearer my house and they only have pop. But I am not a person who puts garbage into my body, so what to do? I started bargaining with myself. I'll get a diet coke, but only this time. It'll be OK, just this once. It's not that I was craving Coke, it's just that I wanted my little ritual and I couldn't figure out what to do. I got a little agitated and nervous, much like the beginnings of an al thought. Then I recited to myself, "I am a person who doesn't put garbage in my body." and a calm came over me. I still didn't know what to do but I felt at peace, I think, because I was realigning myself with my new self concept. So I went to the store and I ended up being able to find some cranberry juice with out sugar and it was all fine.
It's a mundane little story, but it was encouraging to me as I feel like the nervousness I was getting over the Coke was a sign that indeed, I AM changing my self concept and it is working. (Before I would have just grabbed the Coke without a lot of thought.) It feels like a thin wall from the new me to the old me and if I really wanted to, I could step through, but the new me IS THERE and is being formed and I'm noticing other little behavior changes that are aligning (Like chewing more slowly, drinking more water) that I didn't set out to do, but they are still coming together without effort.
I know this doesn't seem like a huge relation to alcohol, but I think it is. For one thing, I cannot count the times I have gotten sloshed, not because I was thinking that's what I wanted, but because I felt crummy with a headache and tension simply because I ate trash all day. I think a good breakfast is my first line of defense.
Also, for me, if I've been eating well and investing in myself all week, hopefully when al cravings do appear, I will feel more like I don't want to lose all the progress I've made. For me it's less of a leap from pop to beer than it is from feeling healthy and making progress to beer.
Also, I see a need to insert new little rituals and habits rather than waiting for a situation to come up and then try to flounder, trying to think what to do.
Today begins day 7. No real cravings thus far, and I think the chatter is less than the last time.
So we carry on.
The theme of the Psycho-Cybernetics book is mainly that every person has a self concept and our actions align themselves with that self concept. Therefore when trying to change a behavior in our life, will power alone won't work if the action we are trying to take is out of sync with the self concept we have of ourselves. Eventually the subconscious will realign behavior with self concept. It's almost like an honesty thing.
In light of this, I have been imagining myself to myself as a person who takes care of my body. I am not using will power to avoid certain foods or al (at least I haven't needed to yet.) but as I go through my day I just kind of "rejoice" in the idea that I love my body, am thankful for my body and I want to take care of it. I am imagining myself as a healthy, glowing person, eating good things and being thankful for good, healthy food. All week I have been eating all meals and eating the best I can at each one. This is really good for me because in the past I was a "drink coffee till the gut rot kills you and then chips and salsa over the sink" sort of person. I would try to clean up my eating habits, but after a few days I would just fall back into the old ways because something would come up, distract my attention and (I believe) when I wasn't exercising will power I would fall back to what was consistent with my self concept. So it's a small nuance, maybe, but now instead of thinking "no more sugar, no more chips" etc. I'm just reminding myself of the person I am. I am a person who is grateful for my body and I don't put garbage into it.
I think I saw a small victory in this the other day. I was going to walk up to the store to get a few things for dinner. I like to walk and I usually would get a little something to sip on on the way home. Sometimes alcoholic, but also sometimes pop, if I was going to a bigger store with a good natural food section, I might get a mineral water too, it just depends on the day. But walking slowly with a little something to sip on is a quiet ritual I have with myself. My house is noisy and busy and it's a time to just have some quiet space to myself, looking at people's yards, the birds, enjoying the wind, etc.
So, this time I was going to a smaller store nearer my house and they only have pop. But I am not a person who puts garbage into my body, so what to do? I started bargaining with myself. I'll get a diet coke, but only this time. It'll be OK, just this once. It's not that I was craving Coke, it's just that I wanted my little ritual and I couldn't figure out what to do. I got a little agitated and nervous, much like the beginnings of an al thought. Then I recited to myself, "I am a person who doesn't put garbage in my body." and a calm came over me. I still didn't know what to do but I felt at peace, I think, because I was realigning myself with my new self concept. So I went to the store and I ended up being able to find some cranberry juice with out sugar and it was all fine.
It's a mundane little story, but it was encouraging to me as I feel like the nervousness I was getting over the Coke was a sign that indeed, I AM changing my self concept and it is working. (Before I would have just grabbed the Coke without a lot of thought.) It feels like a thin wall from the new me to the old me and if I really wanted to, I could step through, but the new me IS THERE and is being formed and I'm noticing other little behavior changes that are aligning (Like chewing more slowly, drinking more water) that I didn't set out to do, but they are still coming together without effort.
I know this doesn't seem like a huge relation to alcohol, but I think it is. For one thing, I cannot count the times I have gotten sloshed, not because I was thinking that's what I wanted, but because I felt crummy with a headache and tension simply because I ate trash all day. I think a good breakfast is my first line of defense.
Also, for me, if I've been eating well and investing in myself all week, hopefully when al cravings do appear, I will feel more like I don't want to lose all the progress I've made. For me it's less of a leap from pop to beer than it is from feeling healthy and making progress to beer.
Also, I see a need to insert new little rituals and habits rather than waiting for a situation to come up and then try to flounder, trying to think what to do.
Today begins day 7. No real cravings thus far, and I think the chatter is less than the last time.
So we carry on.
There may be many that are happy as they are, but I think more would happily be free if they could only find the hope. 
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