Addiction: A Note to Oneself to Come Home

Marvin (an elderly recovering alcoholic) gets up slowly from the bench and walks closer to the ocean, where a majestic white sailboat drifts past. "Isn't that beautiful?" he says, pointing towards the water. "One of the best things about being sober is that I can enjoy stuff like this. I can enjoy beautiful things. If I am drinking, I miss out on this stuff. If I am sober, I get to really live and experience life, even if it's hard."
(Benoit Denizet-Lewis, America Anonymous)

We all run after bliss very much as we are trying to avoid the painful experience at all costs. I was reading the excellent book by Benoit Denizet-Lewis, America Anonymous, describing the lives, sufferings and hopes of several recovering addicts covering very different backgrounds (the addictions ranged from sex, alcohol, drugs, excessive eating to shoplifting). The overall message of the book seemed quite clear: do not aspire that your temptation will ever leave you, but try to de-emphasize its grip on you by falling in love with people and life instead. Accept the wounds of the past, face the pain inside. Feel the connection with your fellow addicts and overcome the affliction together. Find meaning in your life by raising up others just as Benoit Denizet-Lewis did when he wrote this book who is a recovering sex addict himself. Connect with that higher power that the AA 12 Step Program appeals to, while transcending the voice in your head that gets you into all this trouble in the first place.

Suffering from addictions and compulsive behaviors is obviously an extreme wake-up call. Yet the invite to come home is present for everyone every day. Discover the holy Now in the eyes of your soul sister, face the pain of the past or the present with the same resolve as some of the recovering addicts in America Anonymous, hard though as it is. The cravings of the " I" may never go away just as the babbling of the voice in your head may never really disappear. Yet, rain or shine, Her invite to dance with you here and now is always present. Accept and be home now.