That Empty Feeling

[comfortablynumb]

That Empty Feeling

The whole lesson that needs to be learned on quittig a deadly habit is a simple one: To accept the emptiness. At the very core of life, and the sum of it all, is just that.

Emptiness is what IS. Emptiness is at the center of all human experience. We smoke and drink and spend money we don't have and pine for things and people and days gone by and worship our idols to escape from it, but it's always there.

Emptiness. Nothing left to do or say. "What now?" we ask. "How do I replace what's lost?" we wonder. We quit these deadly habits because they're killing us but we secretly want to return, not so much because of the craving and the nicotine/alcohol rush but because we hate the empty feeling we have without it.

We leave abusive people and returned to them, or someone like them, for the same reason. We don't like prison ( depression, guilt, our addiction to nicotine, alcohol, sex or our low self esteem) but it's the only reality we know. To deal with emptiness is to confront our demons and see them for what they really are. Nothing at all! Emptiness is just the flow of life and reality as it really is.

Times change. Relationships end. Jobs are lost. Loved ones die. Old lifestyles change. Our children grow up. Addictions are broken. We move on. We have to. To not accept the emptiness is to stagnate. To look back is to turn to salt like Lot's wife.

The lesson to learn is to "Let it Be" as the Beatles said. To let go does indeed cause grief and suffering. We cry for awhile and time passes and things improve. We look back after a few years at what's lost, and though we still feel a pang of grief, we see that we did manage to move on despite ourselves.

Life is dynamic! Like a river it constantly moves on. We can sit at the river's edge and watch it flow while we cry, or get a canoe and jump in it for the ride. Imagine what all you'll see on the journey! "What's next?" we ask now with eager anticipation...


CN

[353]

When I look in the mirror and see this body, my ego (monkey) mind tries to convince me that is who I am.

I’m just this body, endlessly hoping beyond hope that I do have a spirit and that my life is not meaningless. Is this all there is? Trampling through life, filling this emptiness with physical experiences, one after another trying to fill the void, will I be fulfilled the day they dig the hole and cover me up? Will I have gotten all I needed to be happy in this life?
Will I be gone forever….no more me?

When I look in the mirror and consider there’s more to me then this body and ask, “who am I ?”, I’m a spirit, a soul, residing in this body but for a short while.

Sobriety offers me a glimpse of who I really am. This spirit finds peace in being a helpful and useful human being. I see God around me all the time because I choose too. That’s really all it is, a choice that I make repeatedly everyday. I can choose to see things differently.

Is this emptiness a curse brought on by the reality of a pointless life? Or is this feeling of emptiness a blessing, just my creators’ way of letting me know that I’m living a lie?

This emptiness only has the value I choose to give it.

Gods Peace

[IO Storm]

Comfortablynumb..

That Empty Feeling

Such a wealth of wisdom in that article...

Life is dynamic! Like a river it constantly moves on. We can sit at the river's edge and watch it flow while we cry, or get a canoe and jump in it for the ride. Imagine what all you'll see on the journey! "What's next?" we ask now with eager anticipation...

Not exactly eager yet..but losing the fear....


Thank you.

[comfortablynumb]

Embracing fear is how it dissipates....
courage isn't the absence of fear,
courage is doing what you need to do..............
despite your fear....

HUGS!!

[IO Storm]

courage is doing what you need to do..............
despite your fear....

Ain't it the truth!

Hugs back!

[ColdSweat]

I love that piece, comfortably numb. And I seem to love your music taste, judging by the Pink Floyd reference & the Beatles one... that piece almost made me cry. Do you mean that it'll always be there, the emptiness? How do we deal with that without our vices? I kept the cigarettes, but every other vice is gone. Yes, I still want it/crave it everyday, and I have wonderful, loving people to support me. But that WANT... god.