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A few nights ago my hubby and I were talking about motivation. My husband is a normie, meaning he is not an alcoholic or drug addict. When I introduce him to other members of the recovery program ETA he would rather I not state that he is a normie. He says that, when we (in recovery) call someone a normie, it is one step shy of an insult. His sense of humor is as wicked as mine.

I forget what we were talking about specifically, but he said something about his belief that fear of possible consequences motivates most people to change their behavior. For example, diabetics follow a sugar free diet out of fear of possible health problems. Or, when spending the day at the beach, one would apply plenty of sunscreen frequently to avoid getting a sunburn. Or, when driving through a known speed trap, you drive the speed limit to avoid getting a ticket.

After thinking that over for a few minutes I said that fear rarely causes me to change. Pain is what motivates me. I will continue a behavior until pain over rides the natural inclination to do as I have always done. Almost always, I exceed the speed limit with disregard of possible (or known) speed traps - until I got that ticket. Now, that's the one stretch of road where I always obey. Of course, there are all the crazy things I did in active addiction, regardless of consequences, until the pain was greater to continue than to stop.

So! What motivates you to change? Fear? Pain? Something else? Please reply to me, anonymously or otherwise. I'm interested in your answer. Thanks!

Have a good and sober day.