March 8, 2024 • 8 mins
This episode was inspired by a dinner conversation I had with my boys and delves into the power of critical thinking and curiosity in understanding and transforming your drinking habits.
I discuss some practical strategies for self-reflection and prayer while emphasizing how these skills can lead to greater freedom and control over your alcohol consumption.
Whether you're looking to reduce, eliminate, or simply better understand your relationship with alcohol, this episode offers valuable insights and tools to support your journey toward a healthier, lifestyle where you can live fully present for each and every moment.
Grab the Free Critical Thinking Worksheet I talk about in this episode:
https://the-catholic-sobriety-coach.myflodesk.com/hykod2jpfs
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
Join the Sacred Sobriety Lab: https://sacredsobrietylab.com
Drink Less or Not at All FREE Guide: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/63a4abe81488000c28b9ba89
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Visit my Website: https://thecatholicsobrietycoach.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Catholic sobriety podcast
mini-soad.
These shorter episodes providequick tips and information that
you can refer back to when youneed it most so you can achieve
and maintain your desired levelof sobriety.
I am your sobriety coach andhost of this podcast, kristi
Walker.
Let's get started.
(00:23):
Before I get into today'smini-soad, I just have to tell
you something that happened atdinner the other night and I
promise that it relates to whatI'm talking about today, so just
stick with me.
So I was telling my boys a storyabout a man who walked into a
church and I told them that hemade a beeline for the priest.
(00:44):
And that's when my 10 year oldsaid what's a beeline?
Okay, that's a fair question.
I guess people don't use thatphrase anymore.
So I said I mean he walkedstraight up to the priest.
He was probably walking reallyfast.
And then I proceeded with thestory.
So the guy walked straight overto the priest, pulls out a gun
and says give me all you've got.
(01:06):
That's when one of my 16 yearold twins interrupted and said
that's dumb.
Why would he say that to apriest?
They don't have any money.
He should have just askedsomeone else in the church.
And I said well, priests docarry money, and I would imagine
that there wasn't anyone elsethere, or why would he even do
that?
They would probably just callthe police or something.
Anyway, can I finish?
(01:27):
So the guy pulls out a gun andsays give me all your money.
And the priest was obviouslystartled and terrified.
Another interruption he didn'tsee or hear him coming over and
I said I don't know, maybe.
So the priest is looking in hispockets and he grabs the only
(01:49):
thing he finds, which is a pieceof wrapped candy, and the
second twin pipes up.
See, priests don't make a lotof money.
Why would he try to get moneyfrom a priest?
I said I don't know, maybe theguy thought he had his wallet
with credit cards or something.
I hardly ever have cash on meand I'm not a priest.
Can I please just finishtelling you what happened.
(02:10):
Anyway.
So the priest pulls out thepiece of wrapped candy His hand
is shaking wildly because he'safraid of what that guy is going
to do and says sorry, this isall I have.
Wait, no, rosary.
Look, I said it was all he had.
(02:31):
Just trust me on this one.
So the man looks at the candyin the priest's hand and he
looks up at the priest and saysbut father, I can't take that.
I gave up candy for Lent and myboys all moaned, but they
snickered a little bit too.
Then I said I was just tryingto tell you guys a joke, why did
(02:52):
you have to pick it apart?
And one of my twins said ourteachers are teaching us to pick
everything apart and look at itcritically.
And the other one said yeah,especially in English and
theology.
So you can blame our teachers.
Well, that took away myfrustration a little bit and I
told them no more picking apartmy jokes.
(03:12):
But seriously, I'm happy thatthey are learning to think
critically and examineeverything because, honestly, we
live in a culture where peopletake as gospel truth headlines
and the opinions of othersbefore actually looking at the
facts.
It reminds me of the FultonSheen quote there are not over a
(03:33):
hundred people in the UnitedStates who hate the Catholic
Church.
There are millions, however,who hate what they wrongly
believe to be the CatholicChurch, which, of course, is
quite a different thing.
And this is because they assumethings which we all know, what
they say about assuming insteadof seeking facts and truth.
(03:55):
But that's not what today'sMinnesota is about.
Today I'm going to take thatlesson from my children and show
you how you can use criticalthinking skills to gain clarity
around your alcohol consumption.
When I take assessments orquizzes, it can be hard to get a
real honest picture of what'sgoing on, because I have the
(04:16):
inclination to soften things abit, or maybe I just try to
justify what I'm doing or notreally look at the whole picture
and maybe you do that as well.
But I think by really lookingat something critically, we can
get a much clearer picture ofwhat might be going on.
When thinking about somethingcritically, we want to ask who,
(04:41):
what, where, why, when and how.
Now this is something I divedeeper into in my sacred
sobriety lab, and you can learnmore about that on my website by
going totheathlethecabrietycoachcom.
There I go through eachquestion in much more detail,
(05:01):
but I'm confident that you'llgain great insight just from
what I'm teaching you today ifyou approach it honestly and by
prayerfully inviting the Lord into help coach you through the
process.
I'll also link a criticalthinking worksheet in my show
notes that you can grab for free, so if you are driving or
(05:22):
walking or can't find a pen,don't worry, I've got you
covered.
When you are starting to wonderif alcohol is becoming a problem
for you, the first thing youare going to ask yourself is who
.
Who is my drinking affecting?
Who benefits or suffers?
Who can I talk to about what isgoing on?
(05:47):
Next, ask yourself what you canask things like what are the
pros and cons of continuing todrink the way that I am?
What are the obstacles standingin my way and keeping me stuck,
and what strengths do I havethat can help me get unstuck?
(06:09):
What can be done to ensurepositive change?
Now ask where.
Where can you get moreinformation?
Where can you source assistancefrom?
Where is the greatest need forchange?
(06:30):
Then ask why?
Why does alcohol seem to be aproblem?
Why is there a need for change?
Why would it be good to reducealcohol?
Next, ask when.
(06:51):
When would taking action benefitme?
When will I make an action plan?
When will I know it's not aproblem anymore?
And finally ask how?
How can this change occur?
How can I maintain my desiredlevel of sobriety once I reach
(07:13):
it?
How will making this changebenefit my life in the future?
Now you don't have to askyourself these exact questions.
I just wanted to give you someexamples and then you can ask
these critical thinkingquestions who, what, where, why,
(07:34):
when and how to gain clarityand determine what needs to
happen next to calm the chaosthat alcohol might be causing.
If you want extraaccountability and support,
that's what I do as a Catholicsobriety coach.
Feel free to grab a spot on mycalendar if you want to chat and
(07:54):
see if sobriety coaching wouldbe helpful for you.
Whether you decide to coachwith me or not, I promise you
will leave that free call withresources and you will know
exactly what you want to do next.
Well, that wraps up today'sepisode of the Catholic sobriety
mini-soad.
(08:14):
Thank you so much for joiningme and please be sure to
subscribe to this podcast so youdon't miss a thing.
And remember I am here for you,I am praying for you.
You are not alone.
Welcome to the Catholic sobriety podcast
mini-soad.
These shorter episodes providequick tips and information that
you can refer back to when youneed it most so you can achieve
and maintain your desired levelof sobriety.
I am your sobriety coach andhost of this podcast, kristi
Walker.
Let's get started.
(00:23):
Before I get into today'smini-soad, I just have to tell
you something that happened atdinner the other night and I
promise that it relates to whatI'm talking about today, so just
stick with me.
So I was telling my boys a storyabout a man who walked into a
church and I told them that hemade a beeline for the priest.
(00:44):
And that's when my 10 year oldsaid what's a beeline?
Okay, that's a fair question.
I guess people don't use thatphrase anymore.
So I said I mean he walkedstraight up to the priest.
He was probably walking reallyfast.
And then I proceeded with thestory.
So the guy walked straight overto the priest, pulls out a gun
and says give me all you've got.
(01:06):
That's when one of my 16 yearold twins interrupted and said
that's dumb.
Why would he say that to apriest?
They don't have any money.
He should have just askedsomeone else in the church.
And I said well, priests docarry money, and I would imagine
that there wasn't anyone elsethere, or why would he even do
that?
They would probably just callthe police or something.
Anyway, can I finish?
(01:27):
So the guy pulls out a gun andsays give me all your money.
And the priest was obviouslystartled and terrified.
Another interruption he didn'tsee or hear him coming over and
I said I don't know, maybe.
So the priest is looking in hispockets and he grabs the only
(01:49):
thing he finds, which is a pieceof wrapped candy, and the
second twin pipes up.
See, priests don't make a lotof money.
Why would he try to get moneyfrom a priest?
I said I don't know, maybe theguy thought he had his wallet
with credit cards or something.
I hardly ever have cash on meand I'm not a priest.
Can I please just finishtelling you what happened.
(02:10):
Anyway.
So the priest pulls out thepiece of wrapped candy His hand
is shaking wildly because he'safraid of what that guy is going
to do and says sorry, this isall I have.
Wait, no, rosary.
Look, I said it was all he had.
(02:31):
Just trust me on this one.
So the man looks at the candyin the priest's hand and he
looks up at the priest and saysbut father, I can't take that.
I gave up candy for Lent and myboys all moaned, but they
snickered a little bit too.
Then I said I was just tryingto tell you guys a joke, why did
(02:52):
you have to pick it apart?
And one of my twins said ourteachers are teaching us to pick
everything apart and look at itcritically.
And the other one said yeah,especially in English and
theology.
So you can blame our teachers.
Well, that took away myfrustration a little bit and I
told them no more picking apartmy jokes.
(03:12):
But seriously, I'm happy thatthey are learning to think
critically and examineeverything because, honestly, we
live in a culture where peopletake as gospel truth headlines
and the opinions of othersbefore actually looking at the
facts.
It reminds me of the FultonSheen quote there are not over a
(03:33):
hundred people in the UnitedStates who hate the Catholic
Church.
There are millions, however,who hate what they wrongly
believe to be the CatholicChurch, which, of course, is
quite a different thing.
And this is because they assumethings which we all know, what
they say about assuming insteadof seeking facts and truth.
(03:55):
But that's not what today'sMinnesota is about.
Today I'm going to take thatlesson from my children and show
you how you can use criticalthinking skills to gain clarity
around your alcohol consumption.
When I take assessments orquizzes, it can be hard to get a
real honest picture of what'sgoing on, because I have the
(04:16):
inclination to soften things abit, or maybe I just try to
justify what I'm doing or notreally look at the whole picture
and maybe you do that as well.
But I think by really lookingat something critically, we can
get a much clearer picture ofwhat might be going on.
When thinking about somethingcritically, we want to ask who,
(04:41):
what, where, why, when and how.
Now this is something I divedeeper into in my sacred
sobriety lab, and you can learnmore about that on my website by
going totheathlethecabrietycoachcom.
There I go through eachquestion in much more detail,
(05:01):
but I'm confident that you'llgain great insight just from
what I'm teaching you today ifyou approach it honestly and by
prayerfully inviting the Lord into help coach you through the
process.
I'll also link a criticalthinking worksheet in my show
notes that you can grab for free, so if you are driving or
(05:22):
walking or can't find a pen,don't worry, I've got you
covered.
When you are starting to wonderif alcohol is becoming a problem
for you, the first thing youare going to ask yourself is who
.
Who is my drinking affecting?
Who benefits or suffers?
Who can I talk to about what isgoing on?
(05:47):
Next, ask yourself what you canask things like what are the
pros and cons of continuing todrink the way that I am?
What are the obstacles standingin my way and keeping me stuck,
and what strengths do I havethat can help me get unstuck?
(06:09):
What can be done to ensurepositive change?
Now ask where.
Where can you get moreinformation?
Where can you source assistancefrom?
Where is the greatest need forchange?
(06:30):
Then ask why?
Why does alcohol seem to be aproblem?
Why is there a need for change?
Why would it be good to reducealcohol?
Next, ask when.
(06:51):
When would taking action benefitme?
When will I make an action plan?
When will I know it's not aproblem anymore?
And finally ask how?
How can this change occur?
How can I maintain my desiredlevel of sobriety once I reach
(07:13):
it?
How will making this changebenefit my life in the future?
Now you don't have to askyourself these exact questions.
I just wanted to give you someexamples and then you can ask
these critical thinkingquestions who, what, where, why,
(07:34):
when and how to gain clarityand determine what needs to
happen next to calm the chaosthat alcohol might be causing.
If you want extraaccountability and support,
that's what I do as a Catholicsobriety coach.
Feel free to grab a spot on mycalendar if you want to chat and
(07:54):
see if sobriety coaching wouldbe helpful for you.
Whether you decide to coachwith me or not, I promise you
will leave that free call withresources and you will know
exactly what you want to do next.
Well, that wraps up today'sepisode of the Catholic sobriety
mini-soad.
(08:14):
Thank you so much for joiningme and please be sure to
subscribe to this podcast so youdon't miss a thing.
And remember I am here for you,I am praying for you.
You are not alone.
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