Session Five Campaigning Practice

Step two of the process is something I like to call “5 Things.”

One of our issues when it comes to addiction is the ingenuity we’ve created through the situations we’ve survived. Addicts are generally very good at getting what they want. It’s how they’ve sustained our addictions. In step two, we learn to use that skill to support our recovery rather than using it to sustain our addiction. In this practice, we talk ourselves out of what does not serve us, instead of into it.

To do this, we create another sentence. For the second half of the sentence, I would like you to consider all of the negative things that are the result of your addictions. Think of the effect it has on your relationships, on your finances, or your health. Are there any negative experiences that have made you decide to quit?

After coming up with your list, your practice will continue in this way. Any time you have an addictive craving you will,

Step one – Begin by saying “It’s not like me to…” any time you have a craving to engage in your addiction.

Step two – Following that statement, I would like you to name five things you don’t like about having the addiction. Again, this is your opportunity to talk yourself out of engaging with your addiction instead of into it. This is an opportunity to break the pattern of addiction, but convincing your brain of the real effect it has on your life.

What are the effects of addiction in your life that make you want to break the cycle?

For the third step of this process, we’ll use the answers from the questions I asked in the centering practice to prepare ourselves for step four. If you feel like you would like further contemplation of the questions, I’ve listed them again below. If you are happy with the answers you gave during our centering, you can skip the contemplation and just continue with the practice of step three.

For step three in your process, you will begin with step one, saying “It’s not like me to…” any time you have a craving to engage in your addiction.

Following that statement, you will name five things you don’t like about having the addiction or using your addictive substance.

You will then follow your five things with positive questions and answers. What do you really need in this moment and what is your healthiest option for getting it?

Some of the positive questions you might ask are:

– Question One – Why am I having a craving right now? Do I have a problem I need to solve? What is the best solution?
 – Question Two(a) – What do I really want? Do you want to feel safe, calm, happy, or relieved?
 – Question Two(b) – What is a better way to fill this need? What healthy thing is available instead?

Other questions you can ask yourself include:

 – Question Three – What serves my healthiest life?
 – Question Four – What serves a healthy life for the people around me?
 – Question Five – Everyone in my life deserves to be happy. This includes me but isn’t exclusive to me. What is the best thing to do to serve the happiness of everyone?

Write your answers below. When you feel like you have a good list of options, you can move onto step four.

The final step of our process is substitution. In the process of substitution, we simply take an answer from step three and substitute if for any addictive substance or activity we would have normally used under certain scenarios.

So, our overall process looks like this. Every time I have an addictive craving, 

Step One – I say, “It’s not like me to… (want to do or have this thing).”

Step Two – I name five things ti do not like about suffering from addiction or my addictive behavior, itself.”

Step Three – I ask myself, “What can I do or have instead of engaging in addictive behavior?”

Step Four – Instead of doing/having this, I do/have this instead

Whatever that thing is you figured out in step three, do that now. How do you feel about not engaging in addictive substances? How you do feel about the potential of being free of your addiction eventually?