I deserve it.
Have those three little words ever convinced you to drink when you had previously decided not to?
If so, what was the “it” you deserved?
Relaxation
Escape
Relief from your worries
I agree that you deserve all of that, but alcohol isn’t the way to get it. For one thing, it doesn’t provide those things; it merely tricks your brain into thinking it does.
And what does it leave in its wake? Headaches, disrupted sleep, disappointment, shame—a bunch of stuff you don’t deserve.
So next time that subtle, sweet-sounding excuse offers itself to you while you’re making dinner for your family, or after an argument with your sweetie, or when you’re thinking about how your kids’ school may not open in the fall, pause for a minute to ask yourself what the “it” you deserve actually is. Then challenge your brain to tell you all the ways you can get it without a drink.