ADDICTION - its reasons and some solutions

Addictions have a message for you about who you really are. If you are aware of this, then you can make constructive use of your addiction to help you get back to your own truth rather than judging yourself for your dependency.

Everyone fundamentally desires to flow their own truth out into life. This is what generates happiness, fulfilment and physical health and well-being. Addictions occur when some aspect of the soul's truth is either partially or completely blocked. All blocking of truth is painful and creates frustration so the inner being constantly tries to find ways to undo or get past the block. If something is found which will temporarily undo the block and allow the blocked aspect of truth to flow freely, then the person with the block is likely to continue to seek out that something to relieve the pain and frustration of the blocked state. If they believe they cannot be the way they really want to be without that something, then they become dependent on it to free this aspect of their truth into either full or partial flow. This something may not be a chemical substance. It is possible to become addicted to other people or to animals, to objects, to places and to behaviour patterns as well as to the usual recognised 'addictive ' substances like drugs, coffee and tea, tobacco, alcohol and particular foodstuffs, such as wheat, sugar, chocolate and dairy products.

The addictive agent takes effect in various ways. It may temporarily release the block (e.g. alcohol, marihjuana). Alternatively it may stimulate the life force to push through the block (e.g. caffeine, amphetamines, cocaine, danger). People become addicted to dangerous sports because they produce an adrenaline rush that resembles the feeling anyone can get when they pour their whole truth out without restraint.) Another possibility is that the addictive agent produces an effect that simulates the flow of truth (e.g. chocolate, which briefly simulates the feeling of sensual pleasure in being in a physical body, tobacco which makes people feel temporarily calm and centered).

Sometimes people become addicted to something that simply reduces the pain of the blocked state. For example, morphine and other related opiates make people feel safe and comforted, mimicking the way they would feel if they felt sure that they were loved. When anyone feels safe and loved, they relax and their pain naturally diminishes. Sometimes people use certain drugs or foods to help them space out and avoid the unpleasantness of the way they are feeling. Many people use wheat products and or sugar in this way. Wheat produces opiates in certain people's brains and generates a deadened feeling so that whatever is bothering them ceases to matter so much after a large plate of pasta or a big chunk of bread. Repetitive behaviour patterns can perform a similar function by giving people a temporary feeling of security, thereby enabling them to get on with the next bit of their lives.

Addictions to other people, animals or activities have two main functions. Someone is likely to become addicted to any being or activity that enables them to either love themselves more or to love others. It is part of our nature to feel both pure love for our own truth and pure love for the truth of others. We both need and desire to flow love through ourselves in both of these ways.

Complete blockage of all flow of love leaves people feeling alone, isolated and desolate and leaves the physical body in a state of tension and pain so, naturally, if either of these modes of expression of love are blocked, the inner being will work hard to try to find some way of restoring at least a small part of that expression. Loving someone, anyone, anything. even a cause or a car or a model railway, will help to restore that flow of love. Doing something which feels like expressing love for yourself will also help. This can include buying clothes, grooming, make-up, getting fitter, browner, thinner, healthier. People who become addicted to plastic surgery are clearly seeking to be able to feel more love for themselves via love for their body.

The individuals we fall in love with (in love in the painful, obsessional, can't -live- without- you way) are usually either facilitating the flow of our truth in some way or representing very deeply blocked areas of ourselves that we often do not even recognise as being part of our own nature. In the latter case, the attachment to the other individual may constitute a desparate attempt to retain at least some connection with this blocked aspect of our own inner truth.

There are those who feel unable to be themselves except in the presence of someone who loves them. Although it is good that they can at least be themselves in the presence of that other person's love, it is not so good that they believe they cannot be themselves without it. It is not good because it is not true! The source of every being comes direct from creation, it is already perfect and entirely lovable and loved. Any moment you express your whole truth fully through your whole being, you know this. You know you are love and that love is there for all beings. The tricky part is coming to that point of full and perfect expression.

Your addictions can help you along that path if you let them.
Try this: Think about and feel into the way your addictive agent makes you feel or the way it once made you feel which you want to feel again. Imagine yourself being like that. Observe what qualities of being you were radiating and how you experienced the world around you. If these feelings give you a good strong feeling in your solar plexus and a warm feeling in your heart, then these feelings are part of your own soul's truth. Own these feelings and allow your body to take up the posture that best reflects them. (usually a straighter spine and upheld head, relaxed solar plexus etc.) Now think of times you have felt like this or come close to it without the addictive agent. Press your thumb and middle finger tips together on both hands and review all the occasions you felt like this, both with and without the addictive agent. Hold this pressure for about two minutes. Now think of people who inspire you who are manifesting the same qualities of being. Let yourself love and appreciate them and be grateful for their existence. Then allow the love and appreciation you feel for them to circuit back inwards flowing from your own heart, out to that other person and then back in to your own solar plexus. Acknowledge that this way of being is lovable, that you love it in others and that you love it in yourself. Press the thumb and middle finger tips together again whilst you fill yourself with true heart's love for these qualities of being.

This procedure establishes an association between the finger pressure and a loving memory of this way of being in yourself.
Next time you feel yourself craving your addictive agent, just adjust your body posture to the one you chose above and press your fingers and thumbs together and hold the image of your truth close to your heart. Then see if you can find a way to express those qualities of being then and there in that moment. If you practice this regularly, you will come to realise that being the way you want to be is simply a choice that you can make for yourself. Then you can come to be grateful to your addiction for the part it has played in helping you on the path of restoring the natural flow of your own truth.