Addictions and Committment

Addictions/the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.: "he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction" "an addiction to gambling".
Commitment/the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.: "the company's commitment to quality".

This is a great time of the year to be observant of our addictions because it is most likely the one time of the year that we have such great excuses to indulge in them. It’s the holiday season, a time to celebrate, and overeat and overspend and forget about commitments we may have. How did the Holiday season, or Christmas become such a trap for our obsession with the material? How brainwashed have we become that we make the choices some of us may make. Like drinking and driving for instance. I sat in a karaoke bar the other night and had two guys almost attempt to force me to let them buy me a drink all night. I told them I had been drinking earlier before dinner and did not want to put any more alcohol in my body because I wanted to be able to drive home. At one time they both came at me together and one of them begged me to let him buy me a drink and the bartender stood back waiting for me to say yes. I sat choking on my words for a minute and thought of saying yes and not drinking the drink but I was in a bar and I am only human and I knew that I would be very tempted to finish the drink if it was in front of me. I know I scrunched up my face and shook my head and just replied ”No, I can’t, I really want to drive home”, and I ordered a cranberry and soda just to have something other than water in front of me. That seemed to ease their need to buy me a drink also. I watched at the end of the night as one of them who was very drunk got into his car and drove off and I wished I had convinced him to take a cab instead. I guess my commitment to healthy living outweighed the pressure put upon to drink and drive.

This is probably one of the biggest excuses we give ourselves for falling into our addictive pattern; Other people’s expectations that we join them in a “simple” drink, or puff, or toke, or taste of something and they will give us so many good reasons why we should. Also if we are shopaholics we tell ourselves that it makes us feel good to shop or we are just going to go out “window” shopping and not spend any money (yeah right). It could be gambling where we convince ourselves that the next one is the winner or maybe we believe we can do it just one more time and stop. This time of the year is great for food addicts because people are always wanting you to eat something and it is so easy to say “oh well its Christmas”, or “I’ll make a New Year’s resolution to go on a diet” (this is a good one for all addictions)

The only thing I can say is that life is about making a commitment to having a good life. No one is going to make your life that way you need it to be to make you happy. No one is to blame if your life is not going the way you want it to. No one but you is being hurt by your addictions, others may choose to suffer because you are not doing well but that would be their choice, you are still the one causing the pain for you. I am not a dedicated Christian but I believe in and love Jesus. Jesus was so committed to living his life connected to the Source, to the One God as it came to be known that he would not allow anyone to make him waver on his path. He believed so passionately in his connection that he was able to perform miracles. He had great faith which made him who he was. It is this same faith and commitment that we must find within ourselves in order to overcome the urges that we may have to fall into our old habits. We have to believe in something more powerful, wiser, and more loving than we are and have faith this Power, we can call God, or the Universe, or Higher Consciousness, or Buddha, or Goddess, whatever feels right, will guide us on our journey in life. I believe that it is this “Power” that is so loving when we allow ourselves to a part of it, that fills us with unconditional love of self and helps to remove the urges to be in need of material, mental, physical, or emotional satisfactions. When you fill your spirit with the power of Universal love you are no longer in need or in lack. This is when Majik can occur in your life.

So give yourself the gift of love this Holiday season and share this with all those around you and expect miracles to happen. Happy Holidays to you and please build a loving foundation to begin the next year with.