Transcript.
That $2 Battery Will Only Get You So Far…
I record special audios for book owners only. This is a snippet of the written transcript from a January 2017 bonus audio.
If you imagine that you have a relapse, or you are person who is still drinking, and you’re trying to get a Day 1. Then you email me, and you say, “You know what, that’s it. That’s my last Day 1. That’s it.”
And I say, “Are you changing anything?”
You say, “No, I know that’s it, because this hangover was the worst. I’m never doing this again. This experience I just had was terrible. I’m never doing this again.”
This gives me the idea of a [sober car] battery that is charged with some weak charge when you have a relapse. That battery, with its weak charge, will only get you so far in your sober car.
It’s like buying a $2 battery from the discount store. It’ll only get you so far.
No matter how bad you feel on Day 1, no matter how convinced you are that this is your last Day 1, having a conviction and having a terrible hangover and having an event doesn’t carry you very far. You know that, and I know that, because within a day or a week or a month, we’re drinking again. You know that because it happened to you, all the time before you knew me, all the time before you started to commit to being sober, all the time before you started to use sober tools — you know that this is what happens. It goes like this: “Oh my god, the worst thing happened, my kid was sick in the middle of the night and I wasn’t able to get up with him. I’m never drinking again … ”
And that will only get you about four weeks sober, five weeks, six weeks.
You think that an experience, a negative experience, is going to be enough to charge up the battery in the sober car and have it go all the way across the country to San Francisco.
Now not to despair, the battery can be recharged. The battery can be plugged in again and topped up [daily?]. It doesn’t necessarily have to go all the way to empty and be topped up again temporarily with a another bad experience …
People email me and they tell me that they’ve made a list of all the reasons why they’re never going to drink again, and I say “I’m sorry, that’s not enough.”
“NO, NO,” they insist, “I know for sure, I’m never drinking again.”
A list isn’t enough.
A list is a small $2 battery. I know it because I created the same lists. Do you know how many years I had “Drink less” or “Drink only on special occasions” or “Drink only on weekends” — how long did I have that on my list? (which is evidence of the weakness of that particular battery).
It’s not a sign of weakness in you. It’s not a sign of lack of willpower.
It’s that you’re trying to get across the country on a $2 battery.
[the rest of the audio goes on to talk about how to charge your battery, reapplying motivation, and how to get your battery topped up before you need it.]
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Belle Robertson, sober 6 years, blogs and writes and records free sober audios. She has been sober penpals with 2,885 people. She is a sober coach but she has other talents, too. Like she’s has perfect pitch. Just ask her to sing an A… This blurb updated December 2018.
