Forest hermit to Professor, it's never too late to change. | Dr. Gregory...

THIS TALK HAD A PROFOUND AFFECT UPON ME. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT, ALSO!

Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong | Johann Hari

REAL REHAB

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FIGHT or FLIGHT (REVISITED)

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FACE YOURSELF and AVOID ADDICTION

The BIG CHEESE of ADDICTION -

NOT FACING YOURSELF!

FACING YOURSELF BECOMES THE PROCESS of

SELF - ACCEPTANCE!

---The REASON for all addiction is the inability to face ourselves and our alleged short-comings. If we feel we are doing better than the others, than we don’t usually have a problem. Actually, we usually have no trouble taking or sharing in the credit for something deemed good. But when we have to face up to something deemed negative that we may find ourselves associated with, that is when our heartaches begin.

---Taking credit is not the problem when something positive is happening. The problem will show itself when we become associated with something negative. The problem is not when we face up to what  went down and honestly admit the part that we played in all of it. The problem is now we have activated the flight response. Fight or Flight? Instead of facing up to the situation...we want to run. When we run, we basically say or do anything that dissociates us with what went down...even when we are caught red-handed with our hand in the cookie jar. RUNNING FROM REALITY IS THE ADDICTION.

---We RUN. We can involve ourselves with anything that takes us from being in the spotlight and facing ourselves. We even can learn to face looking negative in the eyes of another, but when we realize that someone has been hurt because of something we’ve done...that can be a hard one to swallow. We say and/or do anything that prevents ourselves from looking bad. That is when prison comes into play. We get off of the stage as soon as possible. People seem to have trouble telling the truth anymore. Saving face and dishonesty are the norm. Folks hide in the shadows, disguising themselves to NOT be recognized for who they are.

---This is the same dynamic that has caused life to be in the dregs that it is. Some have attempted to save face and promote this false self image. The unfortunate thing is that we HAVE RUN out of room. We can’t use resources to support this lifestyle any longer. We used them all up. We swept too much stuff under the carpet. We cannot scratch anymore. Scratching has now become a fatal proposition. It’s like completely painting ourselves into a corner AND it’s too painful to walk across the paint to get out of it. CHECKMATE! It has become a losing proposition, but NOW has an unknown of great pain associated with it. Telling the truth becomes the only recourse...JUST TO GET BACK ON TRACK.

WE ARE ADDICTED TO NOT OWNING UP TO WHAT WE DO. WE SAY/DO ALMOST ANYTHING THAT TAKES THE BLAME OFF OF US and PLACES IT ELSEWHERE.

WE ARE ALL ADDICTED...SOMEWHERE!

My OWN MAJOR

ADDICTION!

---The Major Addiction for me was my left-hand. For those who aren’t aware of this: I was born missing four fingers on my left-hand. My learning to deal with how I felt about my hand taught me much of what Leo speaks about in the video. I learned much about ADDICTION and LIFE, ITSELF, in the process.

---Everything that distracts one from facing him/her-self…is the addiction. The substance one addicts himself to is just the distracting tool one uses to do this. By hiding my hand in my pocket, I was addicted to people NOT seeing me as less than perfect. I was addicted to people NOT knowing the real me. After-all, they may not like me if they did.

---To make a long story short…the more one is himself, the more one is quiet within, the more present one is. When one understands what ADDICTION really is, and how it plagues many different aspects of our lives, one can then understand what he, himself, and many others do most of the time. People, for the most part - The ''HEAD HONCHO'' of ALL ADDICTION - AVOID FACING THEMSELVES!

AVOIDING FACING YOURSELF -

BIGGEST ADDICTION of MANKIND!

The ''HEAD HONCHO'' of ALL ADDICTION!

ADDICTION: A LOVE ISSUE!

ADDICTION: A LOVE ISSUE!

---The SUN shines, but if we sit in the shade, one can’t blame the sun for not tanning us. If we see the sun as love we realize that, just as we have to be in the sun to benefit from its’ rays, we must be loving to participate in this love. It isn’t fair to say we do NOT feel love if we spend our time in the shade and are NOT BEING LOVING!

---A RADIATOR could also be used as an example. The radiator radiates its warmth outwardly. If we are in the vicinity of the radiator, we experience its warmth. If we DO NOT participate in the radiators range of effectiveness and are too far away, we can’t blame the radiator for NOT warming us. AND, if, on the feelings level, we have a warm attitude to our subject, we will also radiate warmth. Again, we participate in the warmth by being loving. We, again, find ourselves outside or inside by the warmth we feel and is felt by our recipients. 

---FREE WILL could be seen as our free choice to be in the shade or sun, or inside or outside the range of effectiveness of the radiator. It is our free choice to participate or not in the effects of either the sun or radiator. HEAT and/or LIGHT are easy enough to find for the most part and are free for the taking. 

---Those ROADBLOCKs or FRUSTRATIONs we run into teach us how to deal with ROADBLOCKs and FRUSTRATIONs. We learn LIFE LESSONs and PAY OUR DUEs as we learn to deal with them. We eventually learn to move along and deal with ALL this. Our ability to deal with ROADBLOCKs, FRUSTRATIONs, ANGER and BLAME and learning the ability with which we can do away with them, puts us back on track.

BACK ON TRACK, BUT HERE IT COMES AGAIN:

---We are ALL free & clear. Everything is running as it should. Something happens. One gets poison ivy and begins to itch. We begin to scratch. The cure is to leave it alone. It behooves us to suffer the ITCHING of it and allow it to heal by NOT SCRATCHING. If we do this it will eventually not itch and hence...heal. The unfortunate part to all of this is that we are very itchy and we want to scratch. The reality to this is that instead of curing it, scratching spreads it. We want to scratch to stop the itching. It doesn't...AND, NEVER WILL! It grows and grows while you become more powerless. This is the way of ALL ADDICTION. To relieve the itching, we want to scratch. The size of the want reflects how addicted we are.

HEALING THE ITCH IS COUNTER-INTUITIVE:

---The cure to ALL of this is - Counter-Intuitive. We must learn that when it itches, DON’T SCRATCH. We have to be able to withstand the itching until the cure eliminates the malady. The problem comes from scratching the itch. We are in the state of itch and we just don’t want to be. That is why it is counter-intuitive. Scratching the itch momentarily relieves the itch, but spreads the disease in a bigger way. The cure is to not scratch and endure. It will eventually get better, but it is difficult to experience having the itch with no relief. ITCHING, but NO SCRATCHING! This is the point where it gets difficult.

---Many of us get addicted to whatever it is that we use to distract ourselves from the itching, if indeed something is used. Many become addicted to what they use to distract themselves from facing their embarrassments. We have to take responsibility and NOT scratch. And then we must endure the feelings of allowing it to heal as we don’t scratch. It can bring us to the pits. This can be the rock-bottom that is talked about.

---Many of us have trouble admitting that we made a mistake and got poison ivy in the first place. REMEMBER: Poison Ivy is only one example where this dynamic comes into being. It is this DYNAMIC  that is reeking havoc upon many things. We are NOT good at having a very strong itch AND yet not being able to scratch it. This is NOT always easy to do, but it is possible. Many, many have conquered it.

---The poison ivy for us may be our lousy job (for many it is,) bad marriage or negative situation. Whatever it is that makes us feel unwanted and unloved. Not appreciated and not valued. Or, just underappreciated and underloved. Mine was my left-hand! Instead of facing the problem in the mechanism, we get lost and then usually addicted to whatever we are using as the distractor. We start living in the distraction instead of facing what it is that we are avoiding. I did this very thing while learning to accept my left-hand. I learned to Accept my hand and it changed my life around. It wasn't easy, but very well worth it.

---IF I CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT! It is fixable by facing the very thing you are avoiding in life. THAT IS FACING YOURSELF! That is where ALL that you need has been, all-the-time. It may not always be easy, but the reward (if you honestly do the work) is worth it beyond your wildest dreams. REMEMBER: Nobody can do the work for you, be clean for you and there are really no short-cuts. But, there is much help around AND it is very possible if one has made up his mind to do it. Be Well and GET HELP IF YOU NEED IT!