How to Overcome Your Addictions with Self-Awareness
I have tried nearly every narcotic on the market, and I have been addicted to many of them. I have also been addicted to video games, porn, and excessive partying. In other words: I am an avid escape artist — or at least I used to be. Where it all started to change was when I began to explore myself through in-depth introspection and became increasingly aware of my triggers and behavioral responses. Once I recognized that there was a problem, I was able to fix the problem. I like to think that that is the very nature of self-awareness.
Throughout this article, we will discuss addiction, its origins, self-awareness, and how it can assist you in overcoming your addictive tendencies.
What is Addiction?
Sometimes the magnitude of our emotions can be nearly too much to handle. Whether it is the heartache after a breakup, the loss of a loved one, or the cumbersome chains of depression; it can be hard to accept the nature of such emotions from time to time.
In my experience, addiction was — and always has been — the art of escape. It is, essentially, a collection of self-destructive thought and behavioral patterns that are rooted in false beliefs, undigested emotional trauma, regret about the past and worry about the future. Another reason for addiction is to fill a void with what is perceived as missing — pleasure, happiness, connection or confidence — with whatever the individual believes will satiate said hunger. This includes drugs, alcohol, food, sex, pornography, and even exercise.
On the surface, addiction seems to be all about what escape method is being used, but what it is really about is, “why does the individual feel the need to escape in the first place?”
Where does Addiction come from?
As I aforementioned, addiction is born out of the illusory need to escape the feelings that come with undigested emotional trauma, past regrets, not fulfilling unrealistic self-expectations, and angst about what is to come. In a way, it is all about being afraid of the vulnerability that comes with self-awareness and wishing for ignorance again — after all, it is bliss. The only problem with ignorance is that it enables you to keep making the same choices again and again while expecting different results. This is madness, wouldn’t you say?
So if addiction is ignorance, then the implied opposite is none other than the terrifying responsibility that lies within self-awareness and the power of choice in one’s responses.
What is Self-Awareness?
This daunting term is much more simple than we make it out to be and only means understanding oneself and one’s own emotional triggers and responsive patterns. Even the way I have explained it probably makes it sound more complex and intimidating than it really is; however, it is a way of being that goes hand-in-hand with mindfulness and propagates full presence and attention in the here and now — both externally and internally.
Let’s say that your boss approaches you to talk about your poor performance. You begin to notice that your throat closes up, your chest tightens, and your gut feels like it is being wrung out. Now all you can think of is having a drink, smoking a bowl, or stuffing your grill with a heaping vat of greasy fast food, but what if instead of acting on such escapist impulses you feel the feelings and observe them? What if you look inward with the lenses of an explorer, a scientist, and a philosopher, and seek greater understanding of your inner emotional and psychological workings?
I believe that this adventurous attitude is the very essence of self-awareness.
Becoming Aware of Your Triggers
Where self-awareness makes its debut in the realm of addiction recovery, is within the ability to direct attention to the triggers and subsequently discover the root of the addiction altogether. For instance, before you can begin pulling weeds, you first must acknowledge that the weeds exist in the first place — before you can recover from your addiction, you must first admit to having an addiction in the first place. Once you become aware of this infestation of weeds in your garden, you can begin digging beneath each one and finding the roots before removing them.
Replace your Addiction
“The single most important drug to society is self-awareness” ~ Gary Vaynerchuk
Are you worried that it may be entirely too difficult to stop your addictive behaviors cold turkey? It is okay — I have had trouble quitting my addictions cold turkey. Let me just provide you with some solace and tell you, “You will fail,” and there is nothing wrong with that. Our failures are nothing more than rungs on the ladder to personal success, but if you are overly concerned about not having any sort of substance to get you through the hard times, you can replace it with the best drug of all — self-awareness.