The First Drink Gets You Drunk

"Think the first drink or drug through": Rather than focusing on the feeling, high, relief, escape, or whatever the short term result of using may be, think about the consequences of relapse. When a thought or craving hits you resulting in a desire to use, think the first drink or drug through, meaning, before picking up, recall the past negatives in your history from picking up the first drink or drug. Then, make a call to someone in recovery, go to a meeting, pray, do anything except using.

Grow or Go

"Grow or Go": By not picking up a drink or a drug in the face of stress and pain, the recovering person can grow emotionally and learn positive self-enhancing ways to handle reality. The person who avoids growth by using drugs or alcohol or some other method of escape (for example, sex, sleep, food), will "Go", meaning he/she will inevitably relapse into use.

Work through Situations

"Nothing is so bad that a drink won't make it worse": Here is another way to look at this saying. Taking a drink or a drug may temporarily give relief from the stress and pain of reality, but for the alcoholic or addict, using just postpones the need to deal with the situation and usually makes it worse. The only way out of a situation or problem is through it, that is, facing it clean and sober, trying to resolve it, and learning from it.

Act As If

"Act as if" is a useful slogan for persons new to recovery. It suggests that one need not reach full understanding of, or belief in, the principles of spiritual recovery before taking action. Even if you do not think that the Steps of AA or NA will work for you, go ahead and act as if they will. Follow the suggestions of members who have discovered that the Program works, don't drink or drug, and go to meetings, and you will come to your own belief in the power of the Twelve Step Programs.

H.A.L.T.

A final entry about using the mini-program H.A.L.T.: In early recovery especially, but at any time, take care of your physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual needs. Be gentle with yourself when you make mistakes, but tough on yourself also, meaning, regardless of how you feel, don't pick up the first drink or drug.

Don't Get Too Tired

Continuing with the explanation of the recovery slogan H.A.L.T.: "Don't get too Tired" refers to the danger to emotional balance in early recovery of allowing yourself to become overextended physically by not getting enough rest. Fatigue causes even trivial problems to become overwhelming, the mole hill-into-a-mountain idea. A good night's sleep will restore one's ability to use tools of recovery to deal with issues that may seem insurmountable.

Loneliness

Continuing with the explanation of the recovery slogan H.A.L.T.: "Don't get too Lonely" is in my view perhaps the most important of the four dangers to avoid in recovery. Isolation and loneliness are the hallmark of addiction. Most addicts and alcoholics feel alone and alienated, "on the outside looking in", "alone in a crowd", just not fitting in even with loved ones or friends. These feelings can be blunted or avoided somewhat by using. When those feelings crowd in on a person in early recovery, they can be devastating. So, going to meetings, sharing, finding a sponsor, developing a relationship with a source of spritual strength, are all ways to deal with loneliness, without picking up a drink or a drug.

Anger

Continuing with the explanation of the recovery slogan H.A.L.T.: "Don't get too Angry" warns of the risk of relapse in early recovery by allowing extreme emotions such as anger. Powerful affective states can trigger your habitual response to strong emotions, namely, to use your normal coping mechanism, drugs or alcohol. A recovering person needs to learn positive ways to handle feelings that are available though use of tools of recovery available by working the Twelve Steps with a trusted sponsor. The services of an addictions counselor can provide a solid supplement to Twelve Step programs.

H.A.L.T. Acronym

"H.A.L.T.": This acronym stands for "Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired", and is used as an admonition to persons new to recovery: Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. Let's examine the first one, Hungry: Eating poorly, of course, is often a part of active addiction. Proper nutrition will help a person physically and mentally in terms of aiding healing of a damaged body and brain chemistry. As a practical matter, not eating properly can result in low blood sugar which can produce symptoms such as cloudy thinking, feelings that may seem similar to cravings or even withdrawal, or just a general discomfort. Because addicts and alcoholics tend not to deal well with negative states such as these, getting too hungry might just trigger a decison to use.

Surrender

"Surrender to win": This phrase is one of the so-called paradoxes in the Twelve Step Programs. Basically this phrase means that by admitting to yourself on a gut level that you are powerless over drugs or alcohol, you are now ready to get the help you need from the rest of the Steps of recovery. Saying it in another way, by surrendering to the fact (based on your drug or alcohol use history) that you cannot use over any substantial period of time without losing control of the amount you use or without suffering negative consequences, or both, the conflict is over and you can now be open to the help available by attending meetings, seeking help from other members, and learning how to work the Twelve Steps. If you still have any reservations in your mind that you can control your use of drugs or alcohol, then you will, in my experience, probably choose to use again, that is, you will not have surrendered to your powerlessness over these substances. This basic point is the stepping stone for success in Twelve Step based recovery.

12 Step Sayings
"First things first": this slogan has many meanings and applications. I'll just talk about one; whatever may come up on any given day, be it good, bad, or indifferent, applying this recovery tool means: "I still can't drink or drug."