WEEKLY MEDITATION
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.
-Voltaire
At the root of addictive pursuits lies the endeavor to create a reliably pleasant experience of life—a certainty that we can rely on. The reality of life, however, revolves around the fact that there are no comfortable guarantees. The only guarantees, in fact, are that everything in life will constantly change, and we will all die. It is important to make peace with this underlying reality if we are to learn to live comfortably without the assistance of our addictions. In this way we embrace this existential doubt. Both addiction and recovery are so much more than dependent relationships with substances and behaviors. Beyond this surface level they represent our relationship with ourselves and with the world itself. Our addictions develop out of a deep need for comfort and we must provide this for ourselves if recovery is to be complete. But we can only do this while embracing the doubtful nature of life and the potential for disappointment, heartbreak, loss, and pain which inevitably accompanies the happiness, reward, love, and joy we will experience. Attempting to ignore this doubt and pursue certainty creates the potential for addiction, while embracing the doubt creates the potential for recovery.
