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Well I'm an alcoholic and I appreciated and connected with it on many levels. We do these completely crazy things, fight with our loved ones when we're toasted, drive drunk and endanger ourselves, our loved ones and strangers and the craziest thing we do is we keep on doing it. “From craving arises sorrow and from craving arises fear”. In our sorrow and fear comes our pain. When we try to medicate or numb our pain chemically, we become addicted. When we try to smother it in the comfort of our family and friends we smother the love of family and friends. The craziest thing is that a some point, which might, on the surface, seem any different from many addicted points before,we suddenly wake up--we see the truth and it is so obvious, transparent and shattering. We awaken from the nightmare of our addiction, and in awakening we break the cycle, its that simple, its that difficult.
Gerald G. May, M.D., in Addiction and Grace, defines addiction as "any compulsive, habitual behavior that limits the freedom of human desire. It is caused by attachments, or nailing, of desires to specific objects. Five essential characteristics mark true addiction: (1) tolerance, (2) withdrawal symptoms, (3) self-deception, (4) loss of will power, and (5) distortion of attention."
I would like to focus on the two symptoms we often don't think about or hear about but hold the key to our self-imposed prison. "Self-Deception" One of the most significant hallmarks of addiction is the exquisite inventiveness that the mind can demonstrate in order to perpetuate addictive behaviors. These tricks of mind include denial, rationalization, displacement, and every other defense mechanism that psychoanalysis has identified, and then some. "Distortion of Attention" Addiction and its associated mind tricks inevitably kidnap and distort our attention, profoundly hindering our capacity for love.
When we awaken from the nightmare we see it for what it was, not us but an illusion we let take control of our lives. In awakening we reclaim our birthright of sobriety. We reclaim our lives--Welcome back, Namaste
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