Joyful Abandon

trashlychaos asked: first of all, i'm obsessed with your blog. i think i might be able to bring something helpful to people from my suffering. so, i'm 72 days sober from a long battle with a heroin addiction. working on the steps to sobriety i'm having to search for a higher power. what would be your advice on the struggle with addiction and the path through recovery?

When it comes to addiction to drugs like heroin, there is a medical component  that makes it very necessary to seek professional help. Recovering after and staying clean, however, is very much a test of your personal power. 

Addiction in terms of habit revolves around thought. You are always thinking about the subject of your addiction; whether that is craving or resisting, it is still all focused on the subject of your addiction. 

When you emerge from being lost in thought, you emerge from addiction. 

Many people put off being present until they satisfy their addiction. All day they are thinking about that addiction: tv, food, drugs, whatever. Only when they are finally satisfying their addiction do they let themselves be in the present moment and savor the experience. 

The spiritual path is about emerging from all addictions, mind and body, and savoring the experience of existence at every moment. 

Meditation and mindfulness will carry you on gentle wings during the difficult times and the smooth sailing of recovery. 

Addictions shouldn’t be fought, they shouldn’t be resisted, destroyed, or degraded. They don’t need to be judged and deemed evil. They only need to be accepted as old toys that need to be grown out of. Then it’s just old news. 

Namaste, sister. :) May you find smooth sailing.