As life was at first in The Garden;
God gave man a perfect life and man had nothing to worry about.
God gave man a purpose with reason.
He gave man the ability to think for himself
giving him the ability to make choices
and put him in charge.
8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Gen. 1:8,9 16,17
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The forbidden tree
Rather truth or fiction
God made us a perfect balance
He warned them about the toxicity of the tree.
God didn’t make laws to keep us in line,
He made them to protect us.
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In spite the warning, they saw something they thought might give them a higher life to be like God Himself. They had been fooled by distraction.
At that point the perfect man shorted his life by changing the chemical balance of his body, by infecting his DNA. Man put himself ‘out of whack’ so to speak, from God’s plan. The rest as you know, is history.
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Why is it so hard to give up bad habits?
What Makes it an Addiction?
If it feels good, do it!
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When we think of ADDICTIONS, we think of drugs and alcohol; that is because they seem to be the biggest problems in our social life and the media exploits the common abuse. Addictions are all around us and are very much a part of everyone's life. Addictions as a whole are in fact Habits! You Can Be Addicted to Anything - from biting your nails to snorting a line of coke. What is common is that the person doing them finds pleasure in some way, or they don’t know how to enjoy life any other way. We get stuck in a rut; and it gets hard to navigate. We become our own worst enemy!
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The harm is particularly difficult to recognize when the addiction is the person’s main way of coping with the other problems (such as being an abused child). Other problems are directly related to the addiction itself, for example, health problems. Sometimes they are indirectly related to the addiction, for example, relationship problems.
An addiction is an escape or a crutch to lean on. We have good crutches and habits, and we have bad crutches and habits.
The biggest problem of an addicted person is they are in denial about their addiction. Many people with addictions do not believe they are addicted as long as they are enjoying themselves, and they are holding their lives together. People can go for years without realizing how dependent they are on their addiction until they hit bottom. They fail to recognize the harm, choosing to ignore the effects on their health, life patterns, and relationships. They blame other people and outside circumstances for their problems.
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Addictive behavior can be counter-productive undermining abilities. Instead of helping the person adapt or overcome problems, in reality, they tend to limit individuality and freedom. They become more restricted in their behaviors.
For example, a gambler spends or pays out more then wins. A drinker might want to cheer up, yet alcohol use contributes to the development of depression. A sex addict may crave intimacy, yet the focus on the sexual act may prevent real close relationships.
Imprisonment for engaging in an illegal addiction restricts their freedom even more. The behavior is persistent. When someone is addicted, they will continue to engage in the addictive behavior, despite it causing them trouble. People with illicit addictions may enjoy the secretive nature of their behavior. Some people who get addicted to substances or activities are very aware of their addictions, and even the harms caused by the addiction, but keep doing the addictive behavior anyway.
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Did you know? The hardest habit to give up are our friends or companions! What influences us. Think about it!
We become accustomed to a lifestyle. We all have needs and we all have fears. We fear that if we don’t fit in our needs won’t be met.
Drug Addiction Crisis Line (607) 762-2257
Narcotics Anonymous (607) 774-4907
www.addictionctrofbroomecounty.org
1-800-901-2180
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“The Lord is my Shepard, ...
4I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm. 34:4
2Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb,
which will help thee; Fear not,
Isaiah 44:2,a
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He gave us that extra spark of life
He chose us to think!
God’s gift of reasoning and cognitivety
5Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with such things as ye have:
for he hath said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6So that we may boldly say,
The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Heb. 13;5,6
8Finally, brethren,
whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy;
meditate on these things.
Phil. 4:8
From what we have learned thus far about who we are, the understanding of how our brain works and how it effects our actins. We get an understanding of how the body chemistry works and what happens when our natural cycle gets messed up. We now have an understanding of how we react to life's problems. We now have an understanding how one problem can cause and interact with another. We now have an understanding of how the snowball can grow.
Make a list now of all your bad habits, all of your addictions, those things you don’t think you can’t survive or be able to cope with life if you didn’t have it in your life. Include all your little quirks.
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Reflection and Review
Bring together all the list you have accomplished thus fare. You might just start to see a pattern form. The pattern isn’t complete yet as we go along it will. As we fight our addictions it is important we know who we are and how we started our bad habits and addictions in the first place.
Some addictions have gotten so out of control that making list is imposable until the recovery program started after rehab. The listing is part of the rehab so as we don’t make the same mistakes twice and have relapse.
As we work this program along with other programs you are involved in, ie AA and other support groups you will see how one is essential to the other. Keep in mind this is not a self help exercise but you must be able to do it on your own as often as you can.
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Up to this point I do hope you have been truthful to yourself working on your list and earnest about working your exercises both mental and physical.
Remember, getting in shape takes time, dedication, and a bit of hard work.
An obstacle is an obstacle! You can stop, you can go over or around it, you can plow through it, or you can remove it. The bigger the obstacle seems the more complex the situation is. Sometimes they do get the best of us.
Remember it is You and your Attitude.
Remember I told you bad habits are easy to come by but good ones are hard? Meditation is the hardest medication to start! Why? It takes work!. However, if you ever get to the point of being able to fully meditate or not, you will still find this 100% effective because it brings you inline with the problem at hand so that you can tend to it.
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Be yourself… using the technique I have provided. This is most important in exercising your ability to bring yourself into alignment in self worth. Bring in the peace within yourself. Be honest with yourself. Do not give up. Keep in mind until you grow stronger your meditation practice is most important. Pray. Center. Focus. Align.
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DO NOT try to tackle some things on your own such as PTSD and other disorders until your therapist suggest you do so.
Review the list;
I see myself as…; I am afraid of…; this is how I was brought up, and to believe…; This is what I need to change…; This is what I want to do…; This is why I (am) and (do)…; These are my needs...
Your Navigator (Therapist) will help you stay in-line as you work from the inside out. Focus on your problems and the causes of your problems. Use your list as a yard-stick. Keep your list updated, add to them things as you remember them no matter how trivial you might think they are, or even if you don’t think it is related to the problem.
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Keep in mind also though you may never forget a root cause, you must forgive the root cause. Forgiving can be the hardest part, but it truly will ease the mind! You will also find this a part of your AA ten step program.
In group, pending size and specifics, your Navigator (Group Leader) will help you stay in-line with each other and if need the subject of the day. But to support each other there may be a five or ten minute centering meditation in the beginning to remove tension you may have built up over a time. Any time you feel the need or tension building up do a short breathing exercise to bring yourself in-line, even counting helps.
ADDICTION
