Choose your words

Those of us who are parents know all about teaching our children to "choose your words." Words are so powerful. Words really do hurt. Or heal. Send us down, or send us up. How are you talking to yourself?  Do you catch yourself hurting yourself? I do. How do you respond?

I try to respond to myself as a loving parent would (for me, that is a loving God; but a loving parent image works). If I need it, I console myself. And I redirect myself.

Goodness, that is just plain old fashioned good parenting, isn't it? I continue to be amazed at how many skills we already have to help us with our alcohol free life. It is true isn't it?

I am changing the words I use. I am really working on this. I am working at substitution: for example, if I think to myself that I am having a wine craving, I tell myself that in fact it is just a sugar craving.

Here at day 96, I am moving ahead...and I have sugar cravings. I meet the sugar craving -- increasingly in a healthy way and forget about it. There is no wine craving after all.  I have used my mind and words to banish and extinguish it.

Hello other bloggers out there! You have helped me more than you will ever know.  I was out to a fancy dinner last night at one of those places that reeks of expensive wine. It seemed half the entrees were made with some sort of wine sauce. Never noticed that before!  Thanks to one of you -- not sure who -- I ordered a virgin Cosmopolitan with real lime juice, cranberry juice and a splash of seltzer. It came and it was delicious.

By the way, every time I am out to eat, I ask the waiter if they have a mocktails menu. They almost always say no. From now on, I am going to say "Please tell the bar manager that I would appreciate a mocktails menu some day!"  Perhaps if we all did that, we could slowly effectuate change (even though they want us to drink because they make more money off of our drinks and we eat more.)

Off to get married today, to my dear man who popped the question on day 30: how much faith he has in me!

Mere

Comments

  1. AinsobrietyFebruary 9, 2018 at 12:46 PM

    Congratulations!
    Yes. Kind words are never wrong.
    Woo hoo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UntipsyteacherFebruary 9, 2018 at 4:35 PM

    CONGRAULATIONS!!!
    Yes, the world needs kind words more than ever these days!!
    xo
    Wendy

    ReplyDelete

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