I have often heard people speak of not having the strength to remain clean and sober or not having the strength to avoid temptation. While it is true that it does require both mental and spiritual strength to achieve any level of success getting and staying clean and sober, I have always found it ironic that people don’t believe they possess the strength to do so.
How much strength does it take to bear the pain of your addiction? How much strength does it take to keep fighting the awful truth that you have a drug and alcohol problem? How much strength does it take to continually lie to those who love you and are trying to save you? It takes an enormous amount of strength to continually live in misery.
Perhaps if all of that fight and strength was directed at not drinking or using for one single day you would be one day closer to true happiness.
Effort is often a matter of perception.
For me, it was indeed far more effort to get and stay drunk or high. However, it seemed the easier way. Perhaps because it was the familiar, habitual way.
The familiar and habitual seems like we are doing them with ease. The unfamiliar seems like a lot of effort. And initially, anything new is.
I have found that most of the effort though is in ramping up the anticipation of the new thing we are about to do. The actual doing almost never requires as much effort when we actually step in the new direction.
When struggling with the effort to stay sober for a day, I usually suggest breaking it down into just the next decision. We don’t even need the strength to stay sober a day. Just to not drink the next time we feel like it. Thats all.
And all by themselves, the decisions stack up into days, days into weeks, to months, etc.
It eventually becomes far, far, far less effort to stay sober.
Ciao.
Chaz