Beyond Rehab

You are not bad if you love alcohol. You are likely seeking instant satisfaction which isn’t always the smartest thing to do—but you are not bad. Many of the things you have done while intoxicated or trying to get intoxicated may have been bad, harmful, and offensive but you are not bad.

If we criticize ourselves for having desires—even unhealthy ones—we cause ourselves to feel even worse, even more frustrated, even more miserable, and even more likely to seek joy in our unhealthy yet comfortable habit.

If we continue to berate ourselves we can feel so low that it is unlikely we will experience joy anywhere, much less outside of our addictive habit which is what we are after in the first place.

So no condemning—not even when you do.

You can say, “Oops, my mistake. I forgot for a second there that I’m adorable and I love me. Sorry about that Self.”

Think Matthew Broderick in the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” when he’s playing sick in bed as his mother leaves for work. That is you. You are that adorable.

You can say to yourself, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I struggle with this pain in the butt overwhelming desire to eat, drink, smoke…. I’m sorry for me that it’s been so difficult and such a struggle at times.” You might feel sadness rather than anger when you think this way.  Sadness can be a nice healer… It often melts away unhappiness and leaves a person exhausted but feeling better.

Practice adoring yourself first. Then tend to your willpower and all that other stuff…

Precious you.