Addictions are funny things. We know gambling is an addiction but what about drinking wine? How many glasses constitute an addiction? Do you tell yourself that it is okay to “unwind” by drinking a bottle of wine every night? If your idea of “relaxing” is drinking four glasses of wine before bedtime, learn why alcohol addiction takes many different forms.
1. Is nightly drinking a ritual and something you look forward to?
- Be honest. Do you wait for five o’clock? Can you go more than one night without drinking?
- There is something soothing about rituals. They create the addiction as well as the actual substance – wine.
2. Do you drink by yourself or keep your drinking secret?
- Would you feel comfortable telling another person how much you drink every night?
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- We know what is excessive, what is too much. If we keep that hidden, we are only fooling ourselves.
3. Daily drinking anesthetizes you. You must “feel” to have a good life.
- You must feel to heal and you cannot feel if you are zoned-out. Zoned out means you have gotten the buzz; you are anesthetized.
4. Psychological addiction is harder to break than physical addiction.
- We can break the physical addiction of drinking everyday, but if we do not get to the root cause of the addiction, we will just transfer that addiction to another one.
- That is why one addiction is the same as another.
- If you do not feel your way to understanding your addiction, you will simply transfer your wine addiction to a shopping addiction.
5. Go to AA or get professional help – getting help is a sign of strength.
- We all need help in breaking an addiction and a place to be accountable.
Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, food or shopping - admitting you’re addicted is simply the first step. Now what do you do? Unless you can identify the root cause of all addictions you can never figure out what you need to do to stop these destructive behaviors.
Chandra Alexander
If you like what you've read, preview and purchase Chandra's books and Cds: http://coachgirl.com/coachgirl/books.html
Chosen by Oprah Magazine as the Life Coach to deliver twelve coaching sessions to the grand prize winner to their prestigious Toyota Moving Forward contest,
Chandra Alexander, MSW, has been living and teaching authenticity for the last thirty years in the areas of relationships, work and consciousness. She also spent five years on NBC/TV/Daytime giving a weekly "Reality Check". Along with a private practice in Tampa, FL, she coaches clients all over the world in the areas of relationships, work and consciousness.
For more information, visit Chandra's homepage
Coaching for Authenticity, a place to explore and discover the essence of who you really are.
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