The problem with saying “I AM an alcoholic”
THE POWER OF “I AM”
If you are familiar with the famous story of Moses and the burning bush, you know the power in these words. Okay, we are definitely not God, but the power of internally verbalizing or outwardly expressing these two little words before a noun is incredibly powerful and life-changing.
In most traditional types of recovery programs, it is encouraged that you use the “I am” statement. You know, the famous;
“Hi, I’m ______ and I am an alcoholic”.
I have a problem with this practice. A BIG problem.
You see, the words “I am” are extremely powerful. They become embedded in our subconscious minds as our own reality. This perception has been formed in our brains as a fact. This could be either life-building or soul-destroying. Wait, what?
If we are going to use these statements, why not use them for POSITIVE outcomes, instead of keeping us in a negative spin of wearing the famous victim-hat? We have become our own worst enemy by declaring something that we don’t want.
There is not ONE person alive that is proud to say, “I AM an alcoholic! I have waited my whole life for this!”. Nobody strives to achieve that title.
For the naysayers out there defending this ritual, hear me out, please.
If you say to yourself every day, “I am fat”, do you think this is doing you any good? Is this statement serving you in a positive light? How does it make you feel? Does it provoke action on your part? Or does it make you stay in the victim lane of being overweight and depressed? My bet would be the latter.
We do this out of habit but it soon turns to our own perception of reality.
Ouch.
Let’s take another example of this but in a positive way. Let’s say you do feel that you do have a problem with drinking but instead of announcing to yourself, “I AM an alcoholic”, you say, “I am more powerful than a drink and I am stronger than any desire, trigger, feeling or seduction that alcohol has over me!”. What if? What if you said this instead? Do you think your life would change? I would say it would.
It’s time to stop saying the statements that will keep you in a negative mindset. It is good to acknowledge where you are with something, yes. I agree wholeheartedly in acknowledgment but if you knew you had the power to overcome the negativity that surrounds the stigmatism of labeling, why would you continue to put yourself in that place?
Start with your positive I AM’s today and every day. Make this a daily routine. Don’t stop until it becomes your new reality. It works for all areas of your life.
How liberating to know that we all possess the power of words and how this can ultimately shape our subconscious minds! We are more powerful than we can imagine and certainly more powerful than a glass of liquid.
