WEEKLY MEDITATION
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
The thought of letting go of certain addictions can seem as daunting as it seems necessary. It is important to remember that the reason it is difficult to let go of addictions is because they provide a very valuable service. Often, they have been providing this valuable service for years and, as genuinely as we may want to be rid of them, we can’t deny that we may feel we need them. But it is equally important to trust that, with care, we can learn to provide for ourselves, functionally, the very fulfillment our addictions provided, dysfunctionally. In essence, we can trust that our minds will be able to stretch to accept the experience of living life without the addiction. We can further trust that after we have experienced it for a while, we might not even be able to go back to our addictions patterns comfortably, even if we tried. But we will likely have to face the healthy anxiety that comes with unfamiliar emotional territory. And we may need to support ourselves through the difficult transition that necessarily accompanies change. But we can always trust that if we persevere, we will eventually grow accustomed to it—perhaps even comfortable with it.
