Tips & Tricks

[Charon]

I've been sober since my surgery. No strong urges but no real stress or disasters either. They WILL come and with them the enemy that has outposts in my head.

So what do I do? I'm setting traps for the enemy. Some premptive, some just sitting there waiting for it. They are based on the article "Why is it so damn hard to change?. How to Change Your Bad Habits - Oprah.com.

First the preemptive. To change the dopamine pathways I've started a number of projects in my woodshop. I used to be a drummer so I'm building a conga like drum to play when I'm antsy. I've ordered some knife blanks that I'm going to make exotic wood handles for and perhaps sell. I also have a number of turning projects and a picture frame to make. The biggest thing is that I signed up to become certified in SCUBA. Lots of ongoing rewards.

The traps are some rewards held in reserve that I can give myself as soon as an urge gets serious. Before I go to the liquor store I will go to Loews and buy myself a Bosch Colt variable speed router, or order another chuck for my lathe or buy a SCUBA pony tank, primary and secondary regulator. As I make those purchases I'll add others so I always have a reward in reserve.

What tips or tricks do you use to defeat the addictive monster?