Emotional Sobriety
No matter what your addiction is – drinking, drugging, gambling, sex, shopping, etc. - just stopping it does not make you emotionallysober. Learning to think and act rationally, even when you’re highly stressed, is the ultimate goal of becoming addiction-free.
Emotional sobriety looks like this:
- You think about consequences before you act or speak out.
- You discuss and negotiate instead of demanding to get your own way.
- You understand that what matters most is not what other people do, but how you respond that really matters.
- You look at the positive side of situations.
- Your feelings are generally stable, with fewer and fewer mood swings.
- You meditate, exercise, go surfing, take a walk, play with your dog, or do something else fun instead of drinking, drugging or otherwise hurting yourself or others.
In emotional sobriety, you learn to look objectively at people, places and things that used to frustrate you. You learn to focus those things that you really do want and your emotional vibration rises to attract more of those situations. You dwell less and less on the downside of those things you do not want to experience. Mindful recovery counseling teaches these thinking and feeling skills, and with a little practice, you can become calm, confident and happy most of the time – regardless of circumstances. This is true emotional sobriety.