SOME TRY ILLICIT DRUGS TO NUMB THEIR PAIN.
Our society condones the status quo of not really changing ourselves. Society encourages temporary quick fixes instead! We might start with the usual soft or ‘social’ addictions such as caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. But will these socially acceptable chemicals be sufficient to cope with the building dissatisfaction?
To numb our deep discontent, we might try more alcohol, or experiment with ‘recreational’ drugs. We might even try illicit drugs to numb our deep despair. We try to artificially bypass our deep distress in this way.
We use recreational drugs in an attempt to reach beneath our pain & suffering. This aim might be commendable, but a chemical strategy is the wrong one! The solution is temporary, and the health costs are considerable.
WE BECOME TOLERANT & ADDICTED.
We risk becoming reliant or addicted to these temporary measures. They also damage our physical health. With each use they become less effective. This effect is called ‘tolerance’. Then we need more of these chemicals, for the same effect.
Perhaps subconsciously, we hope our reckless or destructive behavior might signal our deep distress to others. We can feel lost and in despair. We are desperate for relief, but we don’t know how to correctly access this.
…Can you see how using chemicals and drugs are a slippery slope?
COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOURS ARE DESTRUCTIVE!
We can also use certain behavior patterns, in much the same way as external chemicals! There are a wide range of common behaviors that also induce a temporary chemical high. These become repetitive because they are mildly addictive. They can also become habitual or a compulsion.
These compulsive behaviors include overworking, overeating, overspending, gambling, sexual promiscuity and other risky behavior. This can even extend to overthinking things or over worrying! Even that produces a familiar sensation and appears comforting!
These familiar chemical bursts comfort us, distract us, and can be mildly euphoric. So, they temporarily ease our suffering. They allow us to carry on for a little while longer. But the effect is short lived and requires regular repetition.
COMPULSIONS LIMIT OUR NATURAL GROWTH.
There is also a considerable cost in using such compulsive behavior. We miss out on learning healthy coping strategies. So, we reduce our ability to grow emotionally. We also limit our natural capacity for spontaneous joy & happiness. This can also promote the use of other illicit chemicals which are even more addictive, and destructive to our health.
Sometimes we experiment with impulsive behavior that’s even less acceptable. This includes various high risk or thrill-seeking behavior. This may even extend to intentional self-harm & self-mutilation. A lesser socially acceptable variant is to watch action or horror movies. In this way, we get a rush of emotionally driven internal chemicals, with less physical risk. But there is still a cost! Can you already guess what this is?
COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR RISKS OUR WELLBEING.
We limit our personal growth when we compensate in these ways. We waste the opportunity to learn healthy life-skills. Our personal relationships also surfer! Compulsive behavior hinders our personal transformation. It also puts our future wellbeing, health and sometimes even our survival at risk! It reduces our overall functioning, our joy and our potential. But unfortunately, that’s how most of us live.
…Are you limiting your natural growth by artificial means?
INFORMATION OVERLOAD CAN PARALYZE US.
So how do we turn our life around? How do we start afresh and make a real change to our life and ourselves. Where do we turn for suitable information and guidance? Initially we might feel we lack information. But once we start researching, there can be too much advice. There can be an information overload!
The options can seem overwhelming. Never has there been so much literature, programs & options to choose from. Conversely, never has there been so much distrust & cynicism.
So, how do we overcome all this? It would help to have more clarity. Then we could see the real issues! We start this process by raising our awareness of this problem. Plus, we will also need to improve our decision making. The solution is to improve our own personal discernment and to practice using this!
…Will you trust your own judgement?
WILL YOU TRUST YOUR OWN DISCERNMENT?
We tend to distrust our own judgement & discernment! That's because we have been socially conditioned to look to others for expert advice. We have been taught to value experts or people in authority, more than our own judgment.
We have forgotten to use our own internal guidance! For personal matters, the best guidance will come from deep within ourself. It’s part of our inner nature, but we may be quite rusty in using all this. But we can relearn this skill.
Self-development involves making personal life choices! These decisions can significantly transform the path of our life. But no one else can do this work for us, and we alone bear the responsibility. So, it's good to have the very best guidance. But how do we access this guidance?
USE YOUR INNER RESOURCES WHEN DECIDING.
It's important to utilize all our resources to make the best personal decisions. Remember, the very best guidance will always come from deep within ourselves. That comes from our true inner self! But we do have other forms of discernment that can be useful, and more rapid. These include our emotional guidance system and conventional logical discernment. We will discuss these too.
Optimizing our discernment is important. In particular we might need some hints on reconnecting with our true inner self. These are all issues this SOS book can also help with. This book is intended as an overview of this transformative process and a guide to the steps involved.
Now is a good time to start our RESET. This can be after a crisis, or in an attempt to prevent one! We can start right now! Hopefully by now, we are sufficiently Sick Of Suffering. The aim is to Stop Our Suffering. This starts by pausing to reflect, and then to reset our life. Are you ready to start now?
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