Guilt is the interest you pay on a debt you don’t owe! Keep feeding your guilt and your misery will be refunded with interest!

To overcome guilt and self-blame, it is important to separate your behaviour from who you are now, sober and in early recovery.  Your past behaviour was due to the fact that you were emotionally disturbed or ignorant of the situation. You didn’t have the knowledge you have now. Making mistakes is part of life. This is how we learn and become wiser and more aware. I look upon guilt as a lesson in life.

Have a look at the guilt you are carrying around today and ask yourself if you would repeat the action that caused you this guilt – today. Would you knowingly inflict the pain of such guilt upon yourself through your ignorant actions today?
I think not. If you knew back then what you know today would you have caused the grief that is causing you guilt today. Learn not to feel guilty for that which you have no control over – the past.

Recovery is all about unlearning bad behaviour. Guilt is a waste of time. It’s self-indulgent and unnecessary. The past is past and can’t be fixed. The only tragedy is when you carry a negative memory of it into the future.

Step 8 in Alcoholics Anonymous states: “Made a list of all people we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.” Recovery is also about making amends and being forgiven for things said and done beyond our control.

Alcoholics are not bad people, they are sick people.

Sometimes the way people perceive you is clouded by their own program and by what is often an extreme lack of perception. They see you in whatever terms benefit and confirm their opinion. How you actually are, is mostly a secret. It lies deep within your spiritual self and often is not seen by others. Cling to that reality and never mind what people think. Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter, don’t mind.

Trying to win the approval of others by doing a goody-goody routine is often just a carry-over from the child within that seeks parental acceptance. It’s not necessary for a mature adult.

Worrying about what people think disempowers your values. It places control in their opinions and their reactions.

Let people think what they like. They will anyway. You don’t have to be a politician and act just to win favour. Act as honourable and correctly as possible. Either people will approve or they won’t. Leave it up to them and remember not to ask them. That way you won’t have to stuff around finding out what they think of you and processing their reactions and explaining yourself to them. That’s energy down the drain. Don’t mess with it.  You are free from the bondage of alcohol and that’s what matters most.

Finally, guilt is one of the emotional cudgels people use to establish control, especially in family situations. Don’t use guilt to control others and never succumb to the ploy yourself. Call it as you see it. When others see that you won’t play ball, they’ll back off. Once they hook you emotionally, via guilt, it’s hard to break free. Any escape you do engineer will usually involve a big fight and could result in picking up a drink to bandage your emotional wounds.  The trick is to politely and lovingly sidestep their emotional net before it ensnares you.

You need to take care of your brain chemistry in early recovery to establish a firm foundation for your sobriety. When it comes to feeling mentally and emotionally switched on, we have to have the correct brain chemistry – get it wrong and you will never achieve the feeling of wellbeing that you crave.

The alcoholic has a predisposition to a depleted dopamine neurotransmitter – the centre of satisfaction in the brain. What can we do about it?  Tyrosine Mood Food is necessary for the manufacture of dopamine and noradrenaline, which are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy stable mood.

Why do people drink alcohol?  Because they want to feel better and achieve that sense of satisfaction and reward. What is the function of the Dopamine neurotransmitter?  To supply a sense of satisfaction and reward! What can I do to increase the supply of amino acid to my Dopamine neurotransmitter?  Tyrosine Mood Food!

L-Glutamine is an amino acid and has been shown to improve brain function Tyrosine can also relieve emotional pain as we are often very sensitive people. Glutamine supplementation can be found in our Ultimate Gut Health Powder.

Magnesium Ultra Potent is the great relaxer and is assists in the reduction of stress, nervous tension, anxiety and sleeplessness.

LivaTone Plus supports liver function and metabolism and supports phase 1 and phase 2 detoxification pathways, ensuring optimum detoxification of many toxic substances, including alcohol.

Vegetable juice has been successfully used to clear out fatty livers and can help with a myriad of health disorders.  Dr. Cabot has a great juice book that’s easy to follow and has recipes to help rejuvenate your liver, grab a copy of Raw Juices Can Save Your Life and get juicing!

Another of Dr. Cabot’s books you will find helpful is called Help for Depression and Anxiety - this is an excellent read for people suffering with depression, stress and anxiety.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.