Abort the Launch

Sometimes the warning signs slip past and you find yourself in the danger zone - the urge is loud, the moment is close, and willpower feels thin. This is your emergency plan for exactly that moment: a short, pre-decided sequence you can run when you're already in the danger zone, so you're not trying to invent a rescue while the urge is screaming.

Decide your moves before you need them: In the heat of a craving, your thinking brain goes offline - that's the worst time to come up with a plan. So you build the plan now, in a calm moment, and just follow it later.

My abort sequence

Build a short, ordered list you can actually do in the moment. Tick the ones you'll use, in order.

• [ ] Leave the situation / change rooms immediately
• [ ] Call or text my support person - right now
• [ ] Put the device away / hand it to someone / use the filter
• [ ] Do a hard physical reset (cold water, walk, push-ups)
• [ ] Ride the urge - it peaks and passes in minutes
• [ ] Go to a meeting or recovery resource

My abort sequence, in the order I'll run it:

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My emergency contact

The person I'll reach in a danger-zone moment:

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A pre-written text I could send them so I don't have to find words:

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The urge always passes: Cravings feel permanent but they're not - they crest and fall, usually within minutes if you don't feed them. Your only job in that window is to not act and to reach out. Get through the wave, and you win that round. If you ever feel unsafe, call or text 988 (US) or your local emergency number.

Go deeper

Ready for more? These lessons pick up where this worksheet leaves off.

• Relapse Prevention: Seeing the Warning Signs, from Sex Addiction Recovery. Relapse is a process, not an event.
• Connection Over Isolation, from Sex Addiction Recovery. Isolation fuels addiction; connection starves it.
• The Three Circles, from Sex Addiction Recovery. The Three Circles turn 'stop' into a usable map: bottom lines, warning signs, and a life worth protecting.