Jumping the Hurdle of Addiction

I know that you can jump the hurdle of addiction and live a content filled peaceful life because I did, and I am. In my marriage and life I went through a lot of terrible emotions and marital issues during my bout with alcohol addiction. I have been sober for fourteen-years now, and I have never craved a drink, nor have I ever wanted to have a drink, socially or otherwise.

Addiction, like any adversity we face in life is just another hurdle we need to overcome. It’s not the end of your life because you have a problem with drinking today. It’s the beginning of a learning experience for tomorrow, and not just for the alcoholic, but for the loved one of the alcoholic as well. Adversity definitely makes people stronger. I cannot stay that I am stronger because of my own doing but because of what God has done for me in my life. There is a difference. After spending years enveloped within an addiction, I came to realize that I was powerless to stop drinking and remain sober on my own. It is not our own strength but God’s strength.

What do you want to do with your addiction? To what level do you want to take it? The alcoholic may believe with all of his heart that he would like to continue drinking so he can feel good about himself. The enabler may believe he would like to continue rescuing the alcoholic every chance he can. If that is what you really want to do with the addiction in your life, then I would have to say you are still in the denial stages.

But let’s get past the denial stage, so we can hurry up and jump over this hurdle! A person can wallow for years in the denial stage of alcoholism and never realize they have a problem. The most unfortunate part about this is that while living in the denial state of alcoholism, the alcoholic hurts themselves and others in its destructive path. Many people’s lives are turned upside down because of the insidiousness of alcoholism and other addictions.

For instance the loved one of an alcoholic may not ever take a drink themselves, but because they live with the alcoholic they go through the same kinds of emotional, spiritual, and mental turmoil as if they were drinking. The alcoholic harms his body in every aspect imaginable each and every day. The good news is an alcoholic can completely eradicate all aspects of addiction for good and never crave another drink again. I know this to be a fact!

The fact is we can wallow in our addiction and continue to suppress our full potential as people, or we can except the fact that we are beautiful children of God that just do not need the crutches of addiction. What do you want to do with your addiction? n