A question from a reader on this fine morning -
“Are addictions a means of escaping something deeper?”
And my answer was -
“Could be, most certainly they could be.” (how’s that for definite?- Ha!)
You see, they don’t even need to be very “bad” addictions, like heroin or cheesecake or something. They can be anything to distract or numb or sedate even.
We are very good at attempting to run away from big decisions - somehow sitting on the fence seems so much easier than actually jumping and committing to a course, any course, of action doesn’t it?
We are also very good at avoiding looking at an part of our lives that may not be wholly satisfying too. Where we are obviously compromising and suffering because of it.
Distraction and sedation seems like a great option. “If I dig deep into something else, perhaps the decision or the problem will go away …”
And anything will do - reading, TV, shopping, eating, exercise, travel … knitting … cheesecake ... You can try anything in the attempt to cover up.
What I was personally trying to cover up was this annoying voice at the back of my head that would spout “Is THIS is? Is this ALL your life is about? What is the POINT?” all the time.
It was massively confusing, even depressing, because I had all my external, “facts of life” (not those facts) covered - great house, job, friends, hobbies, everything I wanted, I had.
None of it would quieten that inner voice of dissatisfaction. Weird huh?
I tried so hard to cover it up with more and more of the externals - and nothing worked. The more I tried, the more dissatisfied I got. The fact was that I had no internal wellbeing. No stability at all. No connection with my spiritual anchor. I couldn’t choose to be happy no matter what.
Funny old thing - it took so little to fill that inner hole but it made a huge difference to everything I did. All the “externals” came alive. A little bit of time nurturing my inner self and my outer world got so much more satisfying.
I no longer needed to do anything, I wanted to. A huge difference.
AND all the stress, struggles, overwhelm, the self-doubt and the self-criticism … all of that started to fade away too.
It’s one of the most important things you can do - sort out your inner life … your inner spiritual anchor, get the ability to be happy and at peace no matter what. Because then every decision, every compromise, every cause of stress, every thing gets simpler, more straightforward.
You hide no longer - which is an amazing thing. Your life gets better and better and better.
How about that then?
Go well! Arjuna
PS. Getting the ability to be able to sort out your inner life and choose your own happiness - to have it uncaused - is simply a matter of practicing the right things. Few people actually know these things. If you want to know?
I have a free guide here, detailing exactly what you need to do: