WEEKLY MEDITATION
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time
-Andre Gide
Our addictions serve important purposes. They are not undisciplined frivolous indulgences nor are they simply the result of automatic reactions to neurological demands and genetic imperatives. Our addictions act as anchors. As destructive as they may become, they originate out of a quest for stabilization and regulation. Eventually, the harmful side-effects associated with our addictions start to outweigh whatever benefit they may attempt to provide. The difficulty, however, lies not in wanting to stop our addictions so much as in letting go of these particular attempts to provide vital means of personal security and emotional navigation. This means that we may go through a period of confusion and doubt while learning to steer our lives successfully without them. This is what makes recovering so difficult—the period of time where we have let go of our established, albeit destructive, means of emotional navigation, not yet having developed their functional replacements. But only through consenting to this very difficult transition do we stand a chance at discovering the new land of recovery.
