Living The Life Beyond Substance Abuse

Are drugs and alcohol what the devil replaced the forbidden fruit with? Ha!! Really, can there be a more apt parallel for considering that while we are born into paradise, there can be a fairly persistent temptation to just always want more. Take that to the most basic level of desire and it makes one willing to alter the state of ones cravings by using a drug to induce a different state. Maybe this is overly self evident but if it is, why do people self harm themselves, will full knowledge and intention just to get there. Why, as people get older and their organs are weaker, do they see culture and the good life as living a large portion of their existence under the influence and repeatedly harming themselves. Can there be a greater gift to ones self other than honoring our health.

This goes back to the primary mental step in overcoming substance abuse. To truly live a sober life, one must make the step of logic and move beyond prioritizing short term pleasure in recognition of a longer more stable level of health. One must look at the apple on the tree and no longer have desire as consciousness sees the overall impact and recognizes the apple is poisonous.

So where does this leave us in the life beyond substance abuse. Perhaps the temptations never go away entirely or it takes a very long time and much wisdom to completely move beyond them. Yes, many of the moments of altered state are replaced with both blissful and painful full consciousness of ourselves and the world around us. Yes, we need to prioritize gratefulness, patience and the present moment. When life starts to get boring, we can still bring stimulus in. Now, that comes in the form of connection. Connection to nature, to people, to animals…helping and just being in this paradise we are born into.

How about fear? That too is a naturally inherited trait from our early existence. Meant to provide self preservation, it becomes amplified through earlier traumas in life, or in other terms, is hyper sensitive as a result of growing up in fear. Seeing through that fear is like seeing through the apple as being poison. Its an illusion of short term insecurity, isolated in consideration of the small aspect holding our thoughts vs consideration of the larger context of our existence. We need to overcome this by connecting to ourselves and life as a whole and observing the incident in our life in question and holding its consideration in the true context of what it means in our life.

Go in peace, with love and holding grateful consideration of yourselves and the entire universe in your hearts.