One of the things that is vitally important throughout life is to be kind and extend grace to yourself. If you make the choice to continue being alcohol free beyond this 30-day experiment, it’s important for you to keep this in mind - be quick to forgive yourself.

We are all human and therefore capable of mistakes. This is really difficult for responders, who witness humanity’s mistakes as a part of our jobs! It’s important to remember that we are not immune to falling victim to accidents and mistakes. It’s important to remember this in the event of a slip-up. The good news is that you are now equipped to get back on the right path.

One of the most important lessons in life is that our mistakes should be viewed as a learning moment. I try to remember, “it’s not winning and losing, it is winning and learning.” If we don’t utilize our slip-ups and bad choices to teach us something, then we are more likely to make the same mistake again. If you’re a parent, you’ve likely taken your children’s mistakes and turned them into a chance to teach, that is how they learn. But this doesn’t only apply to kids. All throughout life, we make a bad choice here and there and if we don’t learn from those moments, we are actually missing out on an opportunity to grow.

You will now be able to use your knowledge about cognitive dissonance to help you through the difficult moments or the times where you feel you’ve failed. You can dust yourself off, speak kindly and gently to yourself about why you stumbled, and start fresh again.