When I stopped drinking a couple of years ago I went to meetings designed to help maintain an alcohol free lifestyle. I continued to go day after day for the first 622 days of my new sobriety. On day 623 I was so sick I had to stay in my miserable get-well bed. The reason I bring this aspect of my life up is because it clearly illustrates my need to have constant affirmation. It is not because I am a lunkhead, it is because I tend to forget what is in my own best interest. Not necessarily uncommon, but not wise. So going to a meeting everyday and establishing a positive pattern aimed at changing my behavior seemed like the right thing to do. As it turned out my strategy of constant affirmation has been successful to this point. I don't follow the same regimen of attendence at meetings like I did initially but the behavior I learned has stuck with me and my problems with alcoholic consumption have disappeared. Some things in life are easy to change when a pattern has not been established, however once patterns have been in place for an extended period of time the changing of the familiar pattern becomes much more difficult and in my case required a constant affirmation. The constant affirmation process is simply a tool which can be used to help any desired behavioral modification to become a reality.
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