are you bottle bound
TRANSCRIPT
8/12/2019 Are You Bottle Bound
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ARE YOU BOTTLE BOUND?
ONE of the main reasons why we drink is to give ourse ves !onfiden!e" in the #e iefthat a few g asses oi the tongue and sets us at ease$es%e!ia y with strangers& Thereare" of !ourse" % enty of other reasons' one iness" wanting to % ease others" #eing
frightened of fee ing eft out" using drink as #ridge #etween ea!h other" drinking toim%ress" or (ust wanting to shut out the wor d in an a !oho i! ha)e& And it*s often not
(ust one of these reasons #ut a !om#ination&
+e are a at times a #it one y" frightened" unsure of what to say" an,ious a#outmeeting %eo% e$friends as we as strangers-and we turn to the #ott e to he % us overthese fears and stum# ings&
.t is a short ste% from this to using the #ott e whenever ife *! oses in*& Then you havea %ro# em" #e!ause ife !an *! ose in* at any time&
.t doesn*t he % to drink& /or e,am% e" the one y woman sitting in her house with her
memories turns to drink as a !omfort-#ut she is sti one y and ost& The youngado es!ent" stammering his awkward" gawky way to a first date" rea!hes for a drink tostraighten his words-#ut in his heart he is as shy as ever& The tired #usinessmanforgets his offi!e worries #y # urring them out with severa arge night!a%s-#ut hisfears are on y %ut off for a !ou% e of hours and" in the morning" they return&
0ow many %eo% e a ways have a drink #efore !hatting with someone at a dis!o" or goto the %u# for a * oosener* on the way to a %arty? 1uite a ot& /or the #ig drinkers"going out for an evening and not drinking is ike going out for an evening without their! othes on& They (ust wou dn*t do it& Like their ! othes" they see a !oho as essentia &This is of !ourse a myth& They are using drink as a !rut!h" s!ared they wi fai withoutit&
/ar from he %ing" a !oho is a hindran!e& Throw away the !rut!h and you* rea i)e youdon*t need it& Drink isn*t a %ass%ort to su!!ess and ha%%iness2 these !ome when yousto% drinking& .n (ust a !ou% e of months after giving u%" you !an !hange from anoverweight" s o##y" de%ressed drinker into a fit" s im" hea thy$ ooking teetota er& The!hange doesn*t take % a!e overnight" #ut with every day things get #etter and #etter"and the transformation is wonderfu & And that*s how it is for anyone who de!ides togive u% drinking&
Too many %eo% e think that so#er means straight& They*re wrong-#eing so#er is #eingsmart& On y when you give u% drinking do you see this& 3o do it now" swa% #eer forattra!tiveness" swa% drunkenness for !onfiden!e&
Be honest" go and have a ook in that mirror and if you don*t ike what you see" dosomething a#out it-today&
.f you think you !an*t" you*re wrong& A i t takes is you& Ea!h time you say no it getseasier and easier" unti it #e!omes %art of your ife" an automati! unthinking res%onse&As natura and as easy as #reathing&
On the fa!e of it" saying no seems su!h an easy thing" %o ite y de! ining a drink with afew we $!hosen words and a gra!ious nod& 3im% e& 3o why write a#out it? Be!ause itisn*t ike that& Es%e!ia y if you are weak$wi ed" ha f$hearted" addi!ted or (ust % ains!ared" *no* !an seem the hardest word to say&
But saying no is very easy" if you % an what you are doing" sti!k to your guns" take!ommand and refuse to give in& 3ounds a ot? +e " it isn*t&
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4any who have freed themse ves from the !urse of the #ott e" are !onstant ytormented #y the !raving for drink& They are a ways fa!ed #y the seeming y inno!ent%ro%osition that one sma wine g ass !annot do them any harm& They kee% on te ingthemse ves that if they !ou d give it u% in the first % a!e" they !an sure y give it u%again& 4oreover" they argue with themse ves" that one sma g ass !annot #e ha#it$forming&
They go on feeding their mind on s%urious thinking and a sorts of fa se futurereso utions ti they again su!!um# to the tem%tation of the one g ass theory&
. know of one su!h !ase who had given it u% after a ong strugg e against the eviha#it& There were a host of fa!tors that !u minated in his renun!iation of the #ott e&The most %rominent of a was the death of his grown u% son in an a!!ident in a stateof drunkenness&
This rude sho!k" % us the e!onomi! ruin of his fami y that made them suffer end essde%rivation and %rivation" had (o ted him to the %oint of arousa & .n one mighty effort"he freed himse f from the vi!ious gri% of Ba!!hus&
Then fo owed a %eriod of serenity" %ea!e of mind" e!onomi! re!overy and somesem# an!e of dignity and we $#eing of the fami y& But" unfortunate y it was too goodto #e true& The !raving whi!h had a ways haunted him" one day got the #etter of hisdetermination" and the i usion he had #een #ui ding u% of his invin!i#i ity" ed him tothe *on y g ass*&
0e did not know at that time that there is no su!h thing as the on y g ass& .t %roveson y the first& On a!!ount of the very nature of the ma ady" it starts a !hain rea!tion& .tdid in his !ase too&
This is %re!ise y the fate of the reformed a !oho i!s& They first entertain a thought-athought whi!h strikes a fata # ow at their wi %ower-and then !ome to a stage whi!hautomati!a y oosens their se f$!ontro &
+hen the sma stif ed voi!e within them warns against the %ossi# e dangers" they!heat themse ves saying" 5. knew the dangers then& . know them now& One g ass winot #ring the heavens down&5 One g ass wi not #ring the heavens down" #ut sure y itwi o%en the %orta s of he ish s avery to a !oho &
By !onstant y re%eating su!h defeatist thoughts to themse ves" they ay the foundationof their make$#e ief& They are unaware that they are %ushing themse ves down thea#yss& They wrong y think they have the %ower and determination to ! im# u% again&They think they !an !ry a ha t when they desire& But they !annot2 No one !an&
. a so know another %erson" who was !o!ksure he had !on6uered the ha#it" #ut fe ina weaker moment& 0e was !onfronted with the most !ha enging de!ision of his ife ata %arty&
0is friends were !e e#rating a #ig o!!asion& Every one was out to have the time of hisife& 3in!e he was tou!hing nothing more than a soft drink" near y a his friends !oa,ed
him to go for the strong one" advan!ing a kinds of arguments in their favour& This" heto d" had no effe!t on him&
3udden y" a thought f ashed %ast his mind that one g ass of wine has never made ana !oho i! of anyone& The fa a!y of his reasoning f ashed through his mind #ut it wasthe ight of a f i!kering f ame that f ares u% #efore it goes out& 0is wi %ower had #een
snuffed out& This man" who argued that one g ass !ou d not make him an a !oho i!" isan a !oho i! to this day& 4oreover" he has no desire or determination eft #ehind tofight the evi & That is the mis!hief of one g ass&
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Those who are ever tormented #y the !raving to drink must rea i)e that it is not the#ott e that ures them" it is their thinking& To stay so#er" they have to master the art of!ontro ing their thoughts&
Those who have fa en into the tra% after on!e having got out of it" wi #ear it out thatit was their own thinking whi!h made them surrender& The first thought that !rossestheir mind that one g ass !an do no harm" is the !u %rit& They have to ki it #efore itki s their wi &
A thought #e!omes an a!t& That is the aw of ife& +hat they ive in their thought$wor d" sooner or ater" wi #e o#(e!tified in their rea ife&
They must #ear in mind that every !ons!ious a!t is %re!eded #y a thought anddominating thoughts determine dominating a!tions& The a!ts re%eated !rysta ise into aha#it& The aggregate of ha#its makes one*s !hara!ter&
.t is a known %sy!ho ogi!a aw that any kind of thought" if entertained for ong" wi
rea!h the motor tra!ks of the #rain" and fina y #urst forth into a!tion& This is howa !oho i!s fa & On the other hand" the greatest %owers are engendered" the mostheroi! a!ts of wi $%ower are %erformed" in the same way&
.t is in our hands to determine e,a!t y what thoughts we entertain& .n the rea m of ourmind we have !om% ete !ontro " or we shou d have2 and if at any time we have not"then there is a method #y whi!h we !an a!6uire !ontro &
The mind has the power to perpetuate the thoughts it harbours. Thus, asimple effort to control one's thoughts, a simple setting about it, even iffailure is the result, will in time, bring him to the point of easy, full andcomplete control.
Those wavering on the #rink of re$drinking !an !om% ete y eradi!ate the thought #ys!ot!hing it in the first % a!e& The su!!eeding effort to s!ot!h it wi re6uire esser wi $%ower& They must not give u% in des%air" as in every !ase" every #it of effort wi addan in!rement of %ower that wi fina y a!!om% ish the end aimed at&