Trying to Moderate your Drinking can be a Dangerous Dangling Carrot.
It’s time we let go of this illusion.
Just one bottle before the kids are in bed, and one bottle after.
No more drinking after 8:00.
No more drinking on the couch.
Only on weekends.
Never on Sunday’s or week nights.
Only one drink an hour.
Only five drinks, total.
Have a glass of water in between each drink.
These are some of the different rules I created, over the years, to try and control my drinking. Not surprisingly, I broke every one of them. Rebel with a cause, here. If you’re a problem drinker, you can probably relate. It can feel reassuring to try and moderate your drinking as though it were a simple math equation: If I just do A + B it equals control.
Designating a code of conduct gives you a sense of authority. It allows you to feel like the boss of your problem. It suggests you can take the mayhem and redefine it it with method. Once you have some parameters in place, it’s easy to tell yourself everything will be fine, because now, you have a set of guidelines to follow. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy into my first of only three vodka sodas for the night.
