We cease to be in charge of our own lives the day our addiction take the control of our life. That day we lose our freedom and we become slaves of our addictions. They become our whole aim and purpose of our lives, and we become dependent on the satisfaction of that addiction in order to feel good, happy or successful. In order to take back the control of our life, we will have to free ourselves from the chains of our addictions.
An addiction is the desperately need to have something or do something, it creates in us a habit that enslaves us, making us dependent of that habit. It makes us believe that we need it, taking us the control of our own life, and when we are not in charge of our lives, we are not in charge of anything, that means, that our life is at mercy of our luck. We are merely in a boat drifting in the ocean of our lives pushed by the current of our addictions.
Where are we going to end? Only God knows. What are the odds? We are probably heading straight to the fall, directly to our failure. Can we do something about it? Can we change our direction? Absolutely. How can we do that? Taking back the control of our lives and saying to our addictions: Hey, you! You are no longer in charge here, you have no power over my life, you don’t control me, so move on and give me my life back!
“Sometimes you can only find Heaven by slowly backing away from Hell.” – Carrie Fisher
Okay, I know, everything sounds so nice and easy, but you may be wondering a few things like: how do I start? Is it really possible to move away from my addiction? And yes, it is. Do you want to know how do I know that? Because you have already taken the first and most important step of all: You have decided that is something you want to change in your life, and having the ability to see that something is not giving you what you really want is the first step in the road to a better life.
If you really want to change, if you really want something and you are willing to do everything you can in order to have it, you will have it, but you will have to work hard, and with hard I do not mean working hard one day, and the other day not, I mean every single day of your entire life. Getting rid of your addictions is a whole life commitment. It is not something you do today, and you cease to do tomorrow. Our addiction is our weak spot, and it needs to be always reinforced, even if we feel that we are already strong in that aspect, we always need to be careful of addictions, and be ready to fight them whenever the occasion arises.
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
Therefore, the first step is to accept the fact that we need to change something in our lives, something that doesn’t help us but buries us, something that is not giving us success but utterly failure. The first thing we need to know is that our addictions doesn’t save us in any way nor change our reality, they don’t bring us what we really want, but they condemn us to a life of failure. They only put lies in our minds, and convince us that we need them, so we can fall in their traps.
The second step is to find the source of our addiction. There is something, that fosters you the need to satisfy that addiction. That need becomes so strong that it becomes inevitable and makes you fall into the clutches of your addiction. What to do then? Move away from that source, do not get into the trap expecting to get out from it safe. Anything that makes that addiction stronger, get rid of it.
“If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.” – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The following step is focus. It is all a matter of focusing your mind in the things that you really want in your life, the kind of things that will make you get to the place where you want to get, the kind of things that will reveal your true potential. It is not about resisting the temptation, it’s about ending with that temptation, and how can we do that? Once again, is all a matter of focus. We are surrounded with a lot of things, but we see half of them, because we see what we look at, and it is all a matter of focus. Focus your mind in the type of things that will bring you happiness, peace and success, and forget about the things that destroy you, make them disappear. Put your heart in what is best for you, not your mind in what doesn’t serve you, and you will see your whole life change.
Regardless of your addiction, always remember something: You are a masterpiece of God, you have greatness within you and the power to overcome any challenge. It all depends on you, in your commitment and perseverance. How much you are willing to sacrifice yourself in order to get the victory will determine your success. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it!