Acting without Thinking

One luxury we don’t have in recovery is to act without thinking – because what we do impacts how we feel, and how we feel is critical to long-term recovery.  If we do things that make us feel ashamed, it puts us at risk of going back to that place of self-loathing so common during active addictions.  This is why right choices are so critical in sobriety.

Acting without thinking can have even more dramatic consequences.

The guy who is 10 days out of drug rehab who gets a call asking for a ride from an old friend – he thinks, “I’ll be a nice guy and give him a ride.”  He neglects to think through the fact that the guy he’s picking up is an active drug user, and he’ll be picking him up at the very same house where he used to buy his own drugs. Not a smart move.

The gal in her first 90 days who decides to meet her old college friends at a bar – I will only drink soda water – but neglects to think through the fact that these old friends love drinking games and put a lot of pressure on other people to join in.

I can come up with all sorts of examples from stories I’ve heard from people who have relapsed. Almost always they will say: I had no idea I was going to drink/use.  I was just standing there and heard myself say yes to an offer of alcohol/drugs.

Acting without thinking might even be a warning sign of impending relapse. If you notice you keep ending up in situations where you are tempted to drink or use drugs, ask yourself what that’s really about.  Face it – when you are on a diet, you probably think twice about going to an all-you-can-eat buffet.  When you are trying to stop eating so much sugar, you don’t go into a bakery every day to test yourself. If you are trying to spend less money, you don’t grab five credit cards and head to the mall. Usually when you do these counter-intuitive things, there is a little part of you that wants to give in.