Daily Recovery Club

living sober one day at a time

Day 77 (11 Weeks Sober) My New Alcohol Craving Contract

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I’m a slow learner.

With my recovery, I sometimes think “abstaining from alcohol” is all the strategy I need. I’m learning that’s not enough.

Most days I’m rock solid. Only 3 times in 77 days has desire for alcohol felt strong enough to overcome my hatred of that poison. But I know that one slip can send me back to addiction hell. After 11 weeks of sobriety, that’s not an option.

After my last “near relapse” I talked with my sponsor about having a plan for when the cravings hit. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

When to Invoke the Contract

  • HALT – When I’m hungry, angry, lonely, tired
  • Fantasies – When I’m imagining a time or place where I can drink again
  • Self-pity – When the negative self talk begins
  • Cravings – When I imagine a drink can offer help, support, or happiness

Contract: Before I pick up a drink I will…

  1. Ask my HIGHER POWER for help
  2. Eat a full meal and drink a soda.
  3. Call my sponsor or my someone on my AA phone list
  4. Think through the drink – not just the first 5 minutes of relief, the whole nasty end-game
  5. Do something active for 30 minutes – walk, jog, or push ups
  6. Write a mini gratitude list, then specify how drinking will affect those.
  7. Find a 12 step meeting or do one online
  8. Find 3 friends on Twitter who needs encouragement to fight their addiction or mental health struggle – then help them
  9. Tell alcohol to f*ck off and go to hell. Do this out loud 7 times with increasing force.
  10. Wait … at least 3 hrs from the time I finish this list

*** If anything is literally impossible from the list above, substitute by doing a different item a second time.

What do you think?

I’d love to hear your feedback on this plan for getting through alcohol cravings. Leave a comment below to share your own strategy.

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About Sober Tony

Tony is the founder and editor of Daily Recovery Club. He is a widely respected authority (in his own mind). He's just trying to live a little longer and a lot stronger.

This blog is not professional or medical advice, rather a support community for others suffering from alcoholism. We are all experts on failure, starting over, and trying to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Find him on Twitter @soberTony

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. J (@seltzersobriety) says

    This is a great list! I hadn’t thought of some of these things. HALTing is hugeeee for me. My sponsor also suggests this: “move a muscle- change a thought”. That is pretty similar to working out.

    Sounds like you have a great set of tools at just 90 days 🙂

    Reply

    • Sober Tony says

      Movement. That’s something that was hard where I was living in Haiti. Except for carrying water, I didn’t get active enough.

      Back in the USA, I’m running and even doing some triathlon training again. ???? percent difference.

      Reply

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