IF IT FEELS GOOD . . .Facing Other Excesses

In the drinking and using life, one of the flippant sayings we heard was,
“If it feels good, do it!” We hear that often in sobriety, although it sometimes
appears on a bumper sticker or as casual comment. And if we’ve learned
anything in sobriety, we know that this remark is really a permit for disaster.
We drank to feel good, but we often ended up feeling terrible.

Yet the same slogan, properly understood, can be useful for the recovering
alcoholic. We all want to feel good. But a drink means temporary pleasure
followed by pain, guilt, remorse, and ruin.

This is not really feeling good. It is a nightmare of the worst feeling we
can imagine.

Happy sobriety does feel good, even though it may include short-term
discomfort or temporary boredom. The long-run tendency of sobriety
is toward having peace of mind, feeling good about ourselves, and using
our talents and opportunities wisely. This is the mature way to feel good,
but we achieve it only by thinking and acting in the right ways.