Don’t allow an addiction to destroy your story

I’ve never claimed to be an addiction counselor, but I have seen and experienced the hurt and destruction caused by addiction. Addiction can ruin, dilute, disguise and even kill a person. It can do the same to friends and family. It can make a person and the people around him/her feel dark inside. It is not a good thing.

One can be addicted to alcohol, prescription or illegal drugs, cigarettes, food, gambling, sex, internet use, shopping, hoarding, or anything that alters logic. Imagine a person without a head. That is the accurate picture of someone under the influence of an addiction.

Addiction means you have given control of yourself to something. You have given up your freedom. An addiction is like being in your own prison.

Addiction can start with innocent experimenting, and then move to conscious choice, next it becomes a secret activity, and finally it takes total control. It is like the horror movie where the monster catches the hero or heroin and then proceeds to destroy the city.

A quote from an unknown source explains how addictions are formed: “Many of us believe that wrongs aren’t wrong if done by nice people like ourselves.” We see friends or family doing something and it becomes our norm. We hang out with people that support our addictions. So, choose your friends wisely. They are your mirror.

Another strategy is to set limits. For example: No more than two glasses of wine; only three cigarettes a week or one a day; only one sugar product a day; one beer an hour on Saturday night; one piece of chocolate; no alcohol four days a week; no internet gambling except once a month. Balance, balance, balance! If you have already lost control of something in your life and you can’t limit your behavior, get help; there are great 12-step programs that have been proven to be very successful.

A national addiction hotline is 1-877-345-4142. It is operated 24/7 and a real person at the other end will listen to you and connect you with support or treatment.

Your story is worth more than a sick addiction that lessens your quality of life or has you wishing you didn’t have to wake up with yourself in the morning.

This is your life and this is a new day. You can change.

Until the next time: Live while you live!