The End

Death says, ‘I’m coming, so live!’

– Virgil

Your relationship with the incentive does not end until you do.  A notorious attribute of Incentive Use Disorders is the high rate of relapse, which often occurs long after the good outcome seemed assured.  Some people develop a false sense of security, believing that their success at quitting means that they have control of the problem and can use once in a while.  Other people encounter situations that produce strong emotional states, which evoke relapse.  Yet others relapse for no apparent reason. 

The final recommendation of this course is paradoxical: While preventing relapse is your most important challenge, once you have completed the Action Stage, forget about the incentive.  The purpose of your life is not, not using the incentive. the incentive is only important to the extent that it distracts you from what is truly important.  
 
Deathbed interviews suggest that the sins of omission produce more regret than the sins of commission. Addictive disorders cause people to do bad things.  However, for many the greater tragedy was the opportunity cost of the pursuit of immediate gratification . Perhaps pursuing the incentive has come at the expense of something dear to you. Lost opportunities cannot be recovered. However, you do not have to continue to self-sabotage; you can begin to exercise your will while you still have access to cognitive resources to do so.

The course presented information for your Rational Processing System to help you appreciate the nature of your challenge and to select a path that will maximize your chances of good long-term outcome. In addition, thought experiments, trance formative protocols, and an accepting, dispassionate philosophical perspective are offered to help you change the way your Experiential Processing System reacts to high-risk situations. .

The challenge that faces you varies continually. There will be periods when doing the right thing is effortless. At other times you will encounter situations in which performing as intended is difficult and the price of failure is great. Being prepared for these critical moments of vital importance.

Consider the martial artist who must perform well at moments of great stress.  With this in mind, he hires sparring partners to give him the opportunities to test and practice his intended reactions.  Sparring sessions may be exhausting and painful, but their function is to enhance the warrior's ability to perform well during the critical moments when good performance is important.  Like the warrior preparing for the unknown dangers that lie ahead, one of the few things that you can control is how much energy you invest in your preparation.

We are nearly at the end of the text, and there will soon be an opportunity for trance formation as you switch from the intellectual state elicited by reading this material to a different state as you move on to your next activity. If you will it, you can, for a few moments, take a meta-cognitive perspective and notice the thoughts and local motivations of this creature you inhabit, and observe how they change as you select and get into your next activity. If you will it, you can awaken from the mindless sequence of cause-and-effect and cope mindfully with the high-risk situations that await you. The author, as well as everyone who loves you, is rooting for you to follow the path of the hero.

 

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