Clueless in Seattle
Member
Back in the 90s I checked out some books from the library on the topic of how to quit drinking.
One of the books had a "self-talk" table divided into two columns: The left column was headed something like "unhelpful" and the right column was labeled something like "helpful."
On the "unhelpful" side were statements like: "I just can't bear this feeling any longer."
One statement in particular, on the "helpful" side, has stuck with me all these years. It went something like this: "Some discomfort is an unavoidable but harmless part of the process of quitting drinking."
This statement has kept coming back to me over and over again, over the past two decades, because it seems to have such a wide application to difficult situations in my life, such as now when I, a low-income, disabled senior, am about to lose my housing because of an epidemic of huge rent increases all across the city. So I keep repeating to myself, "Some discomfort is an unavoidable but harmless part of becoming homeless."
I vaguely recall that one of the books I looked at was by Albert Ellis, but when I just now checked the Seattle library online catalog, I couldn't find any titles by him about alcoholism or addiction.
I'd like to try to track down the exact wording of that statement which has stayed with me all these years and which has proved to be so helpful in so many different ways.
Do any of you reading this recognize that statement and recall its source?
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
One of the books had a "self-talk" table divided into two columns: The left column was headed something like "unhelpful" and the right column was labeled something like "helpful."
On the "unhelpful" side were statements like: "I just can't bear this feeling any longer."
One statement in particular, on the "helpful" side, has stuck with me all these years. It went something like this: "Some discomfort is an unavoidable but harmless part of the process of quitting drinking."
This statement has kept coming back to me over and over again, over the past two decades, because it seems to have such a wide application to difficult situations in my life, such as now when I, a low-income, disabled senior, am about to lose my housing because of an epidemic of huge rent increases all across the city. So I keep repeating to myself, "Some discomfort is an unavoidable but harmless part of becoming homeless."
I vaguely recall that one of the books I looked at was by Albert Ellis, but when I just now checked the Seattle library online catalog, I couldn't find any titles by him about alcoholism or addiction.
I'd like to try to track down the exact wording of that statement which has stayed with me all these years and which has proved to be so helpful in so many different ways.
Do any of you reading this recognize that statement and recall its source?
Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"
