CEBU, Philippines - In our using days, we had a lot of bad times that we swore, “Never again.” We made promises for as long as a year, or promised someone we would not touch the stuff for three weeks, or three months. And of course, we tried to stop using for various periods of time. We were absolutely sincere when we made these announcements. With all our hearts, we wanted never to be drunk/high again. We were determined. We swore off using altogether, intending to stay off alcohol and other drugs well into some indefinite future.
Yet, in spite of our intentions, the outcome was almost inevitably the same. Eventually, the memory of the vows, and of the suffering that led to them, faded. We drank/used again, and we wound up in more trouble. Our clean & sober “forever” had not lasted very long. Some of us who took such promises had a private reservation: We told ourselves that the promise not to drink/drug applied only to “hard stuff,” not to beer or wine or marijuana. In that way we learned, if we did not already know it, that beer and wine and marijuana could get us drunk/high, too – we just had to use more of them to get the same effects we got on the harder stuff. We wound up as stoned on beer or wine or marijuana as we had been whiskey, tequila, cocaine, methamphetamines, etc.
Yes, some of us did give up alcohol and other drugs completely and did keep our word exactly as promised, until the time was up . . . . Then we ended the drought by using again, and were soon right back in trouble, with an additional load of new guilt and remorse. Although we realize that chemical dependency is a permanent, irreversible condition, our experience has taught us to make no long-term promises about staying clean & sober. We have found it more realistic – and more successful – to say. “I am not going to use just for today.” Even if we used yesterday, we can plan not to use today. We may use tomorrow – who knows whether we’ll even be alive then? – but for this 24 hours, we decide not to use. No matter what the temptation or provocation, we determine to go to any extremes necessary to avoid using today. Sometimes we break down the 24 hours in just hours, and even minutes.
Our friends and families are understandably tired of hearing us vow, “This time I really mean it,” only to see us crawl home smashed out of our heads. So we do not promise them, or even each other, not to use. Each of us promises only herself or himself. It is, after all, our own health and life at stake. We, not our family or friends, have to take the necessary steps to stay well.
If the desire to drink is really strong, many of us divide the 24 hours down into smaller parts. We decide not to use for, say, at least one hour. We can endure the temporary discomfort of not using for just one more hour; then one more, and so on. Many of us began our recovery in just this way. In fact, every recovery from addiction began with one clean & sober hour.
(How about it? Still sipping softdinks, juices, or coffee? If so, this can be the beginning of your recovery.) The next use will be available later, but right now, we postpone taking it at least for the present day, or moment. The 24-hour plan is very flexible. We can start it anew at any time, wherever we are. At home, at work, in a bar or in a hospital room, at 2:00 pm or at 4:00 am, we can decide right then not to take a drink or use drugs during the forthcoming 24 hours, or five minutes.
Continually renewed, this plan avoids the weakness of such methods as going on the wagon or making a promise. A period on the wagon and a promise, as planned, came to an end – so we felt free to use again. But today is always here. Life is daily; today is all we have; and anybody can go one day without using.
First, we try living in the now just in order to stay clean & sober – and it works. Once the idea has become a part of our thinking, we find that living life in 24-hour segments is an effective and satisfying way to handle many other matters as well. For more information please feel free to call us at 032-2315229 or 032-2389143.