Pay Attention!

MANY YEARS ago, when I was trying to integrate constant social drinking with happy personal relationships, this futile endeavor led me to consult a psychologist (who, I see in retrospect, was an outstanding therapist) and to take what he called a "course." He did not diagnose me as alcoholic; but he did, after the first few interviews, order me to stop drinking while I was seeing him. He said his method required one to think, and often to "think fast"; and he told me bluntly, "When you drink, you can't think."