Day 325 - Alcohol in the past or the future

 

We can be aware of what alcohol does and we can be unaware. If we’re unaware we will drink without thinking about it, just like we did when we were young and hadn’t faced the negative sides of alcohol.


When we start see what alcohol does to us we might become aware and once we get aware the addiction brain needs to come up with tricks to make us drink even though we’re aware that alcohol actually will not add anything.


The addiction brain is always in the future or in the past but never in the present. It thinks about glorified, cherry-picked memories of us drinking alcohol in the sun or with a special friend. It thinks about how fun it will be to drink tomorrow, or next week. It plans ahead so that we buy alcohol to have at home so we’re sure it will not run out. It promises that a party next week will be awesome since we’re going to drink with our friends. Addiction brain will think about the party days ahead to get us unaware on the night of the party so that we will drink. And even when we drink we’re not in the now, since we’re thinking about the next drink instead of the one we have in our hand.


Sober brain knows that what makes the party good is not whether we drink or not, but instead if the food, company and music is good. If it’s a bad party we go home, if it’s good we stay. If we were drinking we would remember less from the good party, and the bad party would be one of those we tried to drink to become good but instead ending up us being way to drunk wondering why we stayed so late at a fairly boring party.


If we are aware, addiction brain can’t be in the present because it has no power here. Sober brain is always stronger in the present if we are aware: why would we do something that makes us more fuzzy and remember less? Why would we want to muffle a good party or make a bad party even worse? Because as aware, we know that’s the what alcohol does.


So if we find ourselves dreaming back to alcohol moments or planning ahead when we will drink, it’s the addiction brain talking.


If we instead do not think about the future and stay in the present it’s the sober brain talking.

And it’s a much more relaxed voice.

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