Spirituality and Addiction
Spirituality and Addiction
An addiction is an obsession or compulsion which a person cannot control, although they think they can and it begins to affect them and others physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Most addictions: work, gambling, alcohol, drugs, or food are a spiritual malady of wanting to fill a void in a person’s soul. They are triggered to act out when they feel angry, resentful, bored, lonely, tired, or afraid. Addictions have their roots in emotional distance from caregivers in early childhood, heredity, abuse, and trauma. Your addiction talks you into acting out when your body and mind justify it. This devil and angel conversation constantly goes on in our minds. One inclination is to do what’s right, according to your belief system. The evil inclination rationalizes and justifies our compulsions, telling us one more time won’t hurt anything or anyone, you deserve it, or you’re entitled.
The disease of addiction will always haunt the addict. They will always be tempted, and it just gets easier to cope when you have the tools to avoid the triggers which cause you to act out. You live in serenity when you know what to do when you’re triggered. But if you constantly live in fear of acting out, clinging on to lustful thoughts, you will eventually fall.
The bottom line is, “what we resist – persists.” If we hide in a cave so we will never look at another human being again to avoid lust, you will live in pain. But when you accept the fact that you can look for a few seconds and turn away, you release the power of constantly saying, don’t look, don’t look, don’t look and it relieves the pain.
Instead of guessing what’s causing your distress, it’s more helpful to access answers from your subconscious. Simply ask yourself, “What is causing me now to be restless, irritable and discontent?” Ponder it for a while and let it go, the answer will come. If it’s resentment, pray for the person to have what you want for yourself. If it’s fear, ask GOD to show you how to trust HIM more instead of trying to control the future.
As addicts we tend to over think everything and sometimes this causes us more anxiety. As we said before, acceptance is the key. Feel the feeling, accept it as just a feeling, don’t push it away or you give it MORE power. Accept it, take a walk, and think it over. You don’t have to do anything when you have a feeling or thought. Accept it as simply a feeling, let it go and think about something else.
Spirituality has different meanings to different people. Some people equate it with religion while others simply ignore it, spending their lives searching for meaning. Spirituality is the foundation, the answer, to moving from self-slavery to a life of freedom. The spirit is the part of us that distinguishes us humans from others forms of life. When we exercise these unique capacities, we are said to being spiritual.
Indulgence in excess is a unique human experience. Animals know when to stop eating and drinking. All they have are their physical urges and desires. Human beings also crave spiritual fulfillment. When this spiritual fulfillment goes haywire, humans become restless. Spiritual craving is harder to identify. People have a hole in their soul that they try to fill up will all sorts of unhealthy habits, when filling your soul with spirituality is the answer.
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