Those dreaded cravings! 😣
You’re minding your own business, sticking to your promise not to drink this Sober October. But it’s 5:00 and you start to feel that damn urge creeping up on you.
What’s your first thought?
Oh god, here we go…
No!!! I’ve been doing so well!
Ugh! Brace for impact.
What if instead of following one of these misery-inducing thoughts down the rabbit hole you tried getting curious instead? Try seeing the urge as a messenger. What is it trying to tell you? 🤔
Perhaps it’s telling you that you need a different way of handling your stress throughout the day.
Maybe it’s saying things haven’t been going so well with your spouse and numb feels better than disconnected (ironic, no?).
Or possibly it’s simply reminding you that at 5:00 you always have a drink and it’s ready for it’s hit of dopamine, dammit!
If you want to change your drinking for good you’re going to need to ask yourself many times, in many situations, the why behind your urges. The answers will tell you what problem your brain is trying to solve by asking for a drink.
Usually, when we try to change a habit we’re only focused on its negative consequences. Doing away with the hangovers, fitful nights, and next day regrets might be motivation enough for a time, but when will power runs out, or those negative consequences are pretty far away in the rearview mirror, we may find ourselves back in the habit if the reasons we drank to begin with haven’t been addressed.
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