“Seven Spiritual Steps to Healing Addiction”

“When Pride Keeps us from Healing”

When we have pride that gets in the way of our healing we become stagnant and that leads to many challenges which spiral out of control. But when we admit to our faults and see the good that can come from all of this… we begin to heal.

Once there was a young man who got into drugs and was high one night and drove home and didn’t even know how he got home. But he did make it home, but if he had gotten pulled over for a DUI everything would have changed. Or if he would have hit someone and killed them, things would have really spiraled out of control. But one of the things foremost on his mind was “What Will People Think”, how he would be judged if he started a drug rehab program. So instead of getting help he ignored it all and did nothing.

But the true reality is he held a lot of anger inside. Anger about his childhood, anger about life , and anger about what happened. And anger leads to great resistance to do anything in the way of healing. For angry people are resistant to most everything, until they really get way down in the dumps… and there is no way to go but up. And even though he had family members who had addiction challenges themselves, he would not admit to the fact that he had challenges of his own.

Thus the cycle of challenges persists. Perhaps not in his life, but perhaps in the lives of his children who watch and learn from him. And children learn not by what we say as parents, they learn by what we parents do. And even though he tried his hardest to hide what happened sooner or later it would all come out and eventually cause major problems. But all this could be different, if he would just accept the fact that he has a major challenge and get help. But that takes guts, and lots of determination to get better… and so the process just keeps going.

Anger with addiction is a major challenge because angry people on the average don’t like change. And when they have pride in the way, they need to hide their challenges from the world.

The first step towards healing these types of challenges is to admit to having a challenge in the first place. Then something can be done, otherwise we keep resisting the fact that we even have a problem. We have to let go of pride and open up to the fact that things need to change.

The second step is about getting help, and there are lots of great healing clinics for addiction in almost every area of the world. And these clinics also use talk therapy, therapy for all the anger people hold inside, which many times is the real cause of the addiction in the first place.

The third step is to let go and let God. To allow ego to move out of the way, and start to listening to the still small voice within.

The fourth step is to create a positive spiritual support system. Going back to the same old crowd doesn’t help. So we have to create a whole new group of friends… and a positive support system.

The fifth step is to have a spiritual mentor, someone to talk to, someone who’s willing to give us the straight scoop… no matter how bad the news is, and be supportive of our efforts to start a new life.

The sixth step is to know we will always have a propensity for drugs, alcohol, and addictions. It really never goes away, we just live from moment to moment knowing we are doing our best.

And the seventh step is knowing we will have good days and bad days, that’s part of life. But that doesn’t mean we give up, we just put one foot in front of the other day after day.

But one of the most important aspects is to letting go of pride and finding help… and then the healing process begins. And then life takes on a whole new dimension of light, love, and hope. And a feeling that the future will be great because we have made a huge change in our life… and thus everything is different.

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider