Power over addiction … (07/03/14)
The great thing about addictions is that they are amazingly potent (and disturbingly persistent) opportunities for personal emPowerment. Getting down on ourselves for repeatedly succumbing to cravings for our own unique forms of “dope” (be they cigarettes or alcohol or meat or sugar or politics or religion or negativity) only makes those addictions stronger … Seeing them as ever-refreshed doorways to liberation, on the other hand, makes us stronger right away — and our addictions brittle over time.
As addicts (every one of you is an addict in one form or another*), it is important to remember that we are not to try and “beat our addiction” — because we can’t. The harder we try to “get clean” — as though sobriety is some sort of merit badge that can be earned with a short series of successes and then worn with ease thereafter — the more insidious our addictions become.
[Feel free to check “Licking the Razor’s Edge”, my free book on addiction & liberation, at the following location: http://inspiringthealtruisticmoment.com/blog/?cat=1400 ]
No, my Friends, the only way to “beat” any addiction is to literally befriend it — just as the only way to defeat any enemy is to give it the one thing it can’t stand: Love.
Now please don’t misunderstand me … I am NOT advocating giving in to the addiction, for this is not Be-Friending it at all. And what I AM encouraging (actually, in-Couraging) you to do is to face your addictions with calm minds and open hearts; to thank them for keeping you alive in times of past crisis (for those times are where they were born) — for giving you solace in times of calamity — and, most importantly, for giving you an ever-present opportunity to become truly Power-full …
For you see, when something is easy to do, it is relatively weak when done. And yet when something is really difficult to do, it shakes the Universe when done anyway. And THIS is the great Gift of our addictions — that we become immense and potent Humans in every moment we choose to set them aside and replace them with healthier, kinder alternatives.
*Are you jonesing for a drink? You become Power-full every time you put down the bottle (or make a cup of coffee, or smile at a stranger, or go for a run — anything other than fulfill the urge to booze) …
*Are you longing for a cigarette? You become Power-full every time you throw another one in the toilet (or use a nicotine patch, or go for a walk, or play with your dog) …
*Are you hankering for a steak or a hamburger? You become Power-full every time you choose a cruelty-free alternative (be it a fruit salad or juicy veggie burger) …
No matter what your particular addiction happens to be, every single time you choose not to engage it, you transcend primal fear & insipid instinct and become a Human(e) Being once more — and will thereafter be blessed with greatest sense of Peace thereafter (a Peace will become actual Joy if you happen to replace your selfish desires with open acts of selfless Kindness for others).
And all of this would not be possible were our addictions not so incredibly powerful … were it not so painful to go without them … were it not such a great sacrifice to set them aside — just for one moment … this moment.
For that is all you have to do to truly beat any addiction: just set it aside once, and just do so for a few seconds … No goals to one day “be clean” forever … No “I’m going to do it soon” or “I’m going to keep getting better” … None of that bland & feeble “hope for the future” stuff — Just one choice in one instant … this instant … this choice.
In the end, it is helpful — indeed wonderful — to remember that we are not more powerful THAN our addictions, we are powerful BECAUSE OF THEM.
So here’s to your Health, my Friends. May we all one day know the Peace that comes from liberating our Selves from the shackles of fear & selfishness!
Amen … Let it be so.
“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.” ~ Edgar Allen Poe
“Every form of addiction is harmful, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” ~ Carl Jung
“Sobriety really is a gift… for those who are willing to receive it. ~ Ace Frehley
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