I think we are all here to overcome our struggles with substances that we can’t seem to quit, despite our own most fervent desires to do just that.
i would argue that at the very bottom of that, each of us has a need to find a way to be true to our authentic selves. To me, that feels like a fact. To others, that may sound like new age mumbo jumbo. (“I’m not here to find myself - I’m here to find techniques to stop drinking so much!”)
So I don’t think we can meet even the most simple sounding stipulation to agree on basic facts beyond this one: ‘My use of an addictive substance is causing (or did cause) problems for me.’ We can agree that we are here out of a desire to get out of that predicament, to commiserate, and/or to show others the way out.
The fact is that my way isn’t the only way. It’s just what works for me, at least for the moment. That may or may not be what works for someone else, nor what will work for me tomorrow. Though knowing the science of addiction (as far as we know it thus far) is helpful, it didn’t get me sober any more than going to AA meetings got me sober. It’s all very personal for me, O’s tailor-made program of recovery. Spirituality and science are not mutually exclusive and it’s fruitless to even argue the point - at least until the question becomes academic.
Which leads me to ask what your next move is, Not Jillian?