Dealing with Denial

Another practice is that of surrendering. Surrendering is little more than a release of control. This may have a spiritual or religious component if those are ideologies that resonate with you; you may surrender your control over drinking to whatever higher power you identify with. However, surrender can be practiced by anyone and does not require a spiritual connection. Surrender can be incredibly freeing, especially if you have been trying to control drinking for a long while now.

A third tool to beat denial is repetition of the mantra “never question the decision.” This simply means to make the commitment or decision and never look back. This is a popular phrase in the alcohol-free world, because living in a boozy society can make it pretty easy to second guess the decision to remove alcohol from our lives. By making “never question the decision” a part of our framework, we can come out of denial and move forward. (This is so popular, in fact, that many people have NQTD tattoos as a reminder!)