Sometimes I used to feel like I was drinking against my own will.

It felt like I was out of control, and it truly wasn’t a choice I was making.

I have heard many of my clients say they feel the same, like it’s an addiction.

So I’ve spent some time truly considering this.

And I know for sure it is a choice-but an impossible one.

It’s a choice between a nice hit of dopamine or pure restlessness.

It’s a choice between feeling desire accomplished and complete deprivation.

So if someone put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t have poured that glass of chardonnay.

If Oprah had come over to talk, I would not have stopped to have a third glass.

But most days, the choice was difficult to the point of choosing between suffering and not suffering.

I mostly chose not suffering.

And I feel like I can’t blame myself for that. But I did. I blamed myself mercilessly.

We always have the choice not to drink.

We always have the choice to feel the restlessness, the anxiety and urge unsatisfied.

But it’s a hard sell.

If we wait to decide until the moment, we will most likely always choose not to suffer.

But if we decide ahead of time to choose for our long term success instead of the momentary satisfaction…

Then it does get easier.

We start to realize there is either a short moment of discomfort or the long term suffering of doing something repetitively that gives us a result we don’t want.

It’s the difference between deciding with your human brain and executive function, or your animal brain.

Let your pre-fontal be in charge.

Let it make the choice.