SEEKING EXCITEMENT
Seeking Serenity
“I haven’t found anything to replace the excitement I felt while drinking,” a member complained. “Sure, I’m grateful to be sober. But sometimes it’s so darned boring!”
Let’s talk about that need for excitement, or “high.” For many of us, it was an important part of our drinking. At times, our drinking was exciting—it came with celebrations, graduations, marriage receptions, engagements, and just about anything else out of the ordinary. Along with it, we wanted other excitement: Exciting love affairs, exciting experiences, exciting stories.
For us, however, excitement always ended with a crash, often a terrible one. Waking up after an exciting binge was a horrible moment. It stretched out to become more horrible. It never seemed to have a happy ending.
We can take this addiction to excitement in hand by recognizing it as a component of our alcoholism. We’ll still be able to be excited at times, but it must be a type of excitement that brings neither crash nor hangover.
I will not let boredom push me into actions that I know will be destructive in the long run. I do not want thrills at the expense of my self-respect and sense of well-being.
© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
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This post first appeared on Essentials Of Recovery #essentialsofrec, please read the originial post: here
