THE THIRD STEP: DECIDE
After we pause and reflect, we are ready to make a conscious decision.
Why Decide?
When we decide after pausing and reflecting, we can set ourselves up to experience joy, connection, balance and nourishment in our lives.
How To Decide
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When we make a conscious decision, we commit to a singular course of action.
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Sometimes we know that we will need to make a decision and can plan ahead to it easier to choose nourishing.
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Sharing our intentions with someone we trust is powerful. We can tell a friend or family member that we are working toward nourishing behaviors.
“When I gave myself a moment to consciously decide on what action to take, I felt more in control of my options and outcomes.”
How It Works
Every nourishing decision we make is increasing our capacity for connection, balance, and joy.
And yet–we won’t always choose nourishing. Sometimes the pint of ice cream or the impulse shopping will win out. Because that’s life, and that’s okay. And we have countless opportunities every day to decide again.
Regardless, when we practice Pause, Reflect, Decide – it is our choice, and not just a result of habitual thoughts or actions.
How It Relates To Substances
When our minds and bodies become dependent on a substance, it can feel like we have lost the ability to make different decisions. Alcohol and drugs change the brain in ways that make reducing use or not abstaining hard, even for those who want to.
The initial decision to use alcohol or drugs is voluntary for most people. However, once a habit or addiction sets in, the seeking out and use of substance is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.
Most drugs affect the brain's reward circuit (located in the “survival brain”), causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit, however, cause the reinforcement of unhealthy behaviors like taking drugs.
As a person continues to use substances, the brain adapts by reducing the ability of cells in the reward circuit to respond to it. This reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug to try and achieve the same high. These brain adaptations often lead to the person becoming less and less able to derive pleasure from other things they once enjoyed. (NIDA)