Get Over Your AddictionThe word addiction brings to mind alcohol or drugs but the truth of the matter is that you can get addicted to almost anything like food, soft drinks or coffee. Apart from drugs most of the things people get depended upon are not actually harmful if taken in moderation. We need food to live but people addicted to it, live to eat. Food takes over their lives. When something has power over you and when you can not give it up even if you want to, you must know that you have an addiction. If you have impulses and desires you cannot overcome and you feel that you cannot resist them then you are addicted. They are those parts of your personality that are most in need of healing. They are your greatest shortcomings. Behind every addiction is the issue of power, the perception of power being external. Until you are dependent on anything external for your happiness you are vulnerable to addiction. This is because whenever you associate your well being to something other then your self, be it a person, situation or anything else, you give all the power to that external factor and if it disappoints you, you are bound to feel powerless. You may then develop a tendency to get addicted to something to fill in the empty powerless place within you. The first step in overcoming addiction is recognizing it. You have to acknowledge it and realize that it is there. If you don’t accept it then you can not take away its power. Normally a person would try to justify and rationalize his addiction to himself and also to others. For example someone who smokes might say things like smoking is a way of relaxing after a tiring day, a way to reduce stress therefore it is alright to do so. Recognizing your addictions require a lot of inner work. You have to look deep inside yourself to identify the places where you loose power in your life and where external circumstances control you. Sometimes even when you see signs like an accident caused by driving drunk, you would still think that it is not addiction but just a small problem, later it becomes a slightly bigger problem and then a serious problem. Your personality does not want to admit that it has an addiction. This is because if it acknowledges it, then it has to accept that a part of it is out of control. It then has to decide to leave it as it is or do something about it. Once you recognize an addiction, it can not be ignored. You can not get rid of it without changing yourself and your life style. That is why we don’t want to acknowledge our addictions as it is human nature to resist change. You can’t satisfy an addiction. There is no such thing as one last cigarette for a smoker. Don’t test yourself by holding a packet of cigarette to see if you are able to control yourself or not. If you want to be tempted in order to test yourself then in reality you are creating a way for yourself to be irresponsible. You might say it to yourself that you knew you couldn’t do it and give in to the addiction. So don’t put yourself in a situation where the temptation is greater then your ability to handle it. You have two selves a higher self (real self) and a lesser self (personality). Your personality can be tempted but your higher self is above all temptations. Your decision to overcome your addiction comes from your real self.
The greater the desire of your higher self to heal your addiction the greater will be the cost of keeping it. You will find that if you continue to maintain your addiction it will cost you the things which are dear to your heart. If it is your spouse or partner then your relationship will be placed in the balance against your addiction. If it is your job or business then that will be placed in balance. Whatever it is that you treasure most will be at risk if you don’t let go of your addiction. It happens not because Universe or God wants to punish you. It is the loving and compassionate response of the Universe to heal you and make you whole. Universe is telling you that your addiction is so deep that the only thing that can take you out of this dark place is something of equal or greater value which you can’t bear to lose. When you intend get over your addiction, to gain inner strength and to empower yourself, the part of your personality that you challenge, the addiction that you want to confront will come to surface time after time. For example if you are trying to quit smoking, you will be drawn to have a cigarette many times that very day. It doesn’t mean that your intention is not working. Every time you are tempted don’t think of it as a set back. If you think in this way then your path to recovery is through uncertainty. You should look at each temptation as an opportunity which has been presented to you in response to your intention to gain power over your addiction. This is learning through wisdom instead of through doubt and fear. The first few times when you challenge your addiction, you may feel that your intention to overcome it is not working and you have not accomplished anything but this is not the case. Authentic power can not be acquired so quickly, you have to have patience and perseverance. When you don’t give up and stick to your decision to become whole you gain power over your addiction. Each time you challenge it you acquire inner strength. Then a time comes when you completely overcome your inadequacies and the addiction you thought could not be challenged loses its power over you. If you find it difficult to resist temptations, meditation will be most beneficial for you. Sit down in a relaxed position and close your eyes. Picture your real self standing before you. Say to yourself, “You are a courageous person and not a weakling, you are stronger then your addiction. You can overcome it if you want to”. Pretend that you are someone else giving this advice. This meditation is very effective. In time you will see yourself as others see you. Your addiction will have no control over you and you will be free. When in your imagination you control yourself as another person might, you begin to enjoy breaking bad habits. When you choose to challenge your addiction
consciously
, you choose to become whole. You work to take yourself out of the dark place you are in and move towards the light. Though road to recovery is a hard one but don’t forget that you have all the help of your higher self and the Universe. A small effort on your part will be rewarded by tremendous assistance. You are never alone.
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