Milkman's Recovery Reflections - July 1

Milkman's Recovery Reflections - July 1

Habits
A key factor in distinguishing a bad habit from an addiction or mental disease is the element of willpower. If a person still seems to have control over the behavior then it is just a habit. Good intentions are able to override the negative effect of bad habits but their effect seems to be independent and additive—the bad habits remain but are subdued rather than cancelled.
For me it was a "habit" to stop in the local pub after work with the guys for a few beers after a hard days labor each day. I grew up in a town that was called the "Industrial City", and in the group of people that I associated with in my early years, this was the norm. The largest percentage of those could stop, have a beer or two, and then head on home to their families. For myself and a few others, we would continue to drink, sometimes late into the day or night.
In my early years it was a habit at first, but for me, it became addiction quickly. For others, it became addiction over time. At first, my "will power" was able to subdue that drinking to just a few, but it wasn't long before I had lost all control. Addiction had set in and my body and mind had to have all the alcohol I could feed it.