2 of 2

Write now Article Tools

Page 3 of 4

dangerous as that of a heroin junkie.

So, perhaps you will admit that you are an addict. How do you free yourself from your addictions?

Freedom from addiction is not determined by the successful avoidance of the thing you were addicted to in the first place; freedom from addiction is determined by your ability to use something (or not) without any dependency. Dependency is the true measure of addiction. Most people who claim to be freed from some addiction have only substituted one habit for another. The dependency is still there; only the way in which the dependency is being fulfilled has been changed.

The true cure of an addiction is not in the cessation of some habit or the substitution of one habit for another; it is in becoming free of the original dependency, not in substituting the way in which the dependency is satisfied.

A person who is cured of the addiction to alcohol is not the person who has managed to quit drinking. The real measure of being free of the addiction to alcohol is to be free of the need to have a drink in order to fill some hole in one's self. Most ex-alcoholics are still alcoholics. They are just alcoholics who don't drink. They are dry alcoholics. If you cannot risk drinking a cold beer on a hot summer's day, lest you become a daily drunk again, you are not free from your addiction. It is still there. A person who is free of the addiction to alcohol can have a drink when and if they want to; they are just no longer habituated to using it to fulfill some dependency. They have a choice and are capable of making it consciously. They are free from both the habit and the dependency- the need that screams for fulfillment, one way or another.

Putting it another way, the cessation of some habit does not free you from the original dependency. You are still in bondage. Substituting methadone for heroin does not remove the dependency. Substituting weekly 12 step meetings and a supportive peer group for the daily happy hour at your local bar does not remove the dependency. Only the identification and removal of the root emotional, mental or spiritual dependency can set you free.

This is a tough job. For some of us, it may even be a lifetime of work. I can give you some simple suggestions, but only you can set yourself free. The other side of the coin of freedom is responsibility. Only when you are willing to accept total responsibility for the events and circumstances of your life will you achieve any measure of real freedom. So long as you assess

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Testimonies: From addiction to freedom?
We want to hear your view. Write now!