Are You Skilled at Delaying Gratification?

Delaying gratification is a skill that those in recovery have to embrace. Our drug of choice, whatever that may be, was an escape. These are instantly gratifying in the moment, and they can make everything feel better, for a time.

We each were put in a position to choose something more. We had to delay gratification, and by doing so we began to discover something more than gratification. We also discovered that being gratified or feeling satiated didn't lead us to also feeling fulfilled.

In this week's Recover Yourself episode Dr. Anna Lembke and I talk about where the opioid epidemic is today. In it, the question "Can society delay gratification?" came up.

Our society, as a system, is addicted to profits. These profits have contributed greatly to many societal problems, most notably the opioid epidemic. Even though we are familiar with this society it is not yet willing to admit it has a problem. That is why I don't believe we are ready to delay gratification. We have learned, however, that we don't actually have to hit rock bottom to begin a journey of recovery. So I remain hopeful.

I love you,