Talking About the Faux-Pas

Addiction…

That's right, you've heard the word, and now we're going to talk about it.

Many of us have no idea that little things in our lives can become addictions. I know what you’re thinking, an addiction is related to drug and alcohol abuse; not true! In reality it means a continued involvement with a substance or activity despite the negative consequences associated with it.  Pleasure and enjoyment would have originally been part of the experience, however over a period of time involvement with the substance or activity is needed to feel normal.  Even housework and cleanliness can be an addiction.  Many other forms can include such things as gambling, food, sex, pornography, computers, work, exercise, idolizing, shopping, Yes... even Shopping! 

For those of us that have said time and time again, I will not go buy that new shirt, just to make me feel better; I’m there with you!  Or those pretty earrings you saw last week and knew you couldn’t afford, but now you just have to have them; did I mention you also had a big fight with your husband last night?... Sound familiar?

You may also wonder, well, why am I talking about this when this group is supposed to be about Health & Wellness?  Well that’s because addiction is a major player in offsetting any mental & physical wellbeing that you are trying to achieve.  90% of your goal to reach your target weight, follow-through on a goal, or truly make a lifestyle change is inhibited by your mental well-being.

Think About it!

We are constantly surrounded in our day-day lives with advertising & media, or something vividly in print, telling us that buying something or looking a certain way will make us happy.  Soon we begin to believe that materialism & physical beauty is the only way we will sustain the happy life we are looking for.  For those completed obsessed with magazines, refrain from picking up Cosmo again this month; you do not need to learn another sexual position!

We suffer, yes, many of us have suffer; we tend to lose control or just cannot seem to refrain from making choices that are not conducive to our lives.  We battle with our thoughts, our actions, or our words in trying to overcome our problems and yet we feel helpless under their control.  And yet the truth of it is that, addiction is not the lack of willpower, or the lack of moral integrity… it is our mental & emotional positioning in the situation.

Addiction is the very disease of self-esteem.  Now, that looks a little odd just standing there by itself, I'll admit, but here it is in a nutshell: an addict has at his or her core an absolutely inviolable belief that he or she is not worthy of love & respect.  In those cases of addiction that I have been privy to hear of or run across  -- the addict has known, without question and usually since their earliest memories, that they are somehow less of a person, less of a human being, less worthy, less attractive and less lovable than everyone else around them. Remember this. It's important.

You may very well be someone that has felt that lack of love, support, emotional uplifting in your life and it is so important to remember that there is hope, and that you can change.  This applies to everyone in life, whether faced with severe issues, or just slight obstacles in their way, we can overcome our deepest obsessions and simply live the life we were created for.

A great woman once said: 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”   - Maryanne Williamson

Remember, we can all overcome life’s tumbles and pitfalls, we can fight through the wrongs that have been done to us in childhood or as adults, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I know that if you set your mind to it, you will achieve just about anything…. this is the very core of 90Days2Life, and in it you will find your light. You will find the love, the support, the admiration, the quest for your own infinite success...

I challenge you to make a stand today!