The 'Because I can' Litmus Test

Addicts may not only wonder whether Recovery is truly possible in the first place, but further, what the test of that Recovery could possibly be.

I propose the 'Because I can' test. In the early stages of recovery [or even well into the middle stages of recovery... I see it as a process], when the compulsive urge begins to weaken, the relapses are more often than not due to something so mundane and mindless as 'because I can'. It's available, and for whatever reason, or no reason, one uses.

But the tipping point comes when the sense of power/ choice of 'because I can' shifts from 'because I can... I will have a look' [the libertine in me] to 'I won't have a look.... because I can' [the voice of moral restraint in me].

In the second, one's moral sense has gained the strength to refuse the temptation should it knock at the door. I think this moral development of oneself is crucial to full recovery.

 

Cheers, and the important point is this - the 'because I can' in 'I won't have a look... because I can' means because I have the power to not look.... it is simply a question of gaining the moral strength, in psychological terms, to resist the temptation.

 

On an associated note, I think us men need to rediscover the meaning of virtue. In the current mindset that prevails, this word has become antiquated to the point of being nonsensical. BUT consider that 'vir' means man, from which we get the word virile... and then virtue starts to appear as manliness itself. It is this virtue that gives us the strength to overcome.