We’ve heard it time and time again. Our thoughts and fundamental belief systems create our ultimate reality. Thoughts become things. Believing in something is exactly what it sounds like; Our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, internal awareness, all shape our perceptions of the world around us. The law of attraction says that we can materialize anything that we set our mind on. Essentially the vibrations that we send out into the world will be reflected back into our lives. According to this law and the physics behind manifesting personal power, Rhonda Byrne said it best as “every second is an opportunity to change your life because in any moment you can change the way you feel.” Looking at addiction, it is a wonder anyone would attract this into their lives, but what if our beliefs are wrong about what addiction truly represents and who it affects?
Addiction has its myths and too many of these myths are damaging to the individual as well as families, friends and the community. The one that tends to surface most often is how our society generalizes what kind of people are addicts, that these are bad people, and they deserve to be punished. In truth, these are just people. Addiction is a human behavior. It does not discriminate and can affect anyone and everyone regardless of race, age, income, social status, religion etc. If one has fallen victim to an addiction problem the likelihood is that they do not know how to cope with some aspect of life, and this can happen to anyone. At the root of addiction, there is not a problem at play but rather a solution. Whatever the abuse be it drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling, internet gaming, pornography or even love & dependency, these behaviors act as a solution to whatever the person is lacking and/or needing to mask or fill.
Normalizing this abuse as a human behavior is our first step to changing the way we think about and approach addiction. Understanding it in this way not only relieves some of the stigma associated with addiction, but also instills a power of choice and the learning required to adapt new coping mechanisms as the healthy solutions we need. We choose what feeds our desires. It is like being hungry. Food is the appropriate response to hunger. Likewise when we feel thirsty, water is the appropriate response. This applies to all feelings and can be correlated equally in matching all of our biological and physiological needs with the correct response. Once we learn to change the quality of our thoughts toward positive responses to the problems we experience, then we open ourselves up to the possibility of changing our life.
The mind is an incredibly powerful thing. It is capable of a great number of beliefs, though sometimes it needs a little push in learning positive thinking and changing the way we feel through practice. Improving ones mental attitude if used to years of negative thinking and feeling regular despair, can take time and repetition to erase. Some helpful advice is to read at least one page of an inspiring book each day, watch only movies that make you feel happy and motivated, and promise yourself that with each negative thought that comes to mind, you will counteract it with at least two constructive happy thoughts. Little by little one begins to form a new reality and sense of self when positive thinking is put to regular use. There is never a demand that one needs to be the same person they were an hour ago. So stop thinking about all the reasons you cannot break your addiction. Start thinking about all the ways that you can, because you can reinvent your thoughts and reinvent yourself at any time. Your new life starts now.
