Here at the DUI Foundation, we’re excited to partner with Carrie Armstrong, with the How To Be A Sober Girl blog. You can check out her blog here. Over the next thirty days, she has committed to a How To Be A Sober Girl 30 Day Kickstart campaign and we’ll be sharing her stories right here.
And without any more time, here’s Day Sixteen:
The very first thing we discussed on day 1 of this 30 day Kickstarter was the absolute importance of building momentum.
When it comes to stopping drinking? Most traditional schools of thought gear towards action. The action of the cessation of drinking.
It rarely works. That’s why it is so vital to slowly introduce as many tools as possible to counteract our old thinking before any new action will stick. I say slowly because if you were to bombard yourself with as many tools as possible all at the same time? The resistance you felt would be massively uncomfortable. Anything from irritation, to anger all the way to downright despair.
15 days ago you had a lot of old, powerful momentum, and not a great deal of new thoughts to counteract it. Now only 15 days on you have 15 entirely new ways to tackle and counteract your old habits of thought. And because of that? Everything must shift. It has to. It’s not possible to feel exactly the same way about alcohol that you used to. Something has to give way.
Tonight please take a pen and paper and write down every tool given to you so far, in order of which appeals to you the most, right down to which catches your attention the least. Once you have done this? Look at the list and try and work out for yourself what things the top 5 have in common, and what the bottom 5 have in common.
By doing this you will begin to build a picture of what your brain responds to the most easily. Which is invaluable when it comes to talior making your own tools in the future. If it becomes obvious that you are a visual person that responds strongly to visual exercises? Start thinking about ways you can create your own. That way there will be some really strong momentum going on that by the time we are done in 2 weeks. If you respond the most in writing exercises? Or music? Then that’s the strongest tool in your sobriety arsenal.
Start thinking of new ways to incorporate your most powerful weapon into your everyday life to shore up your ability to cut down or stop drinking. It’s important you get to know your strengths. It’s important you get to be in charge. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are powerless against alcohol. It is a lie.
Go be your own truth. Go be the strongest truth you can find,
Carrie x
