Get rid of drugs or drinking by focusing on positive addictions. “Very few of us realize how much we choose the misery in our lives. Even when we do, we still go ahead with the disastrous choice because we are convinced that we don’t have the strength to choose better. A child doesn’t give up in school, or a wife on her marriage, because each believes it’s a good move. They give up because they no longer have the strength to keep up the struggle.”
Glasser calls good addictions positive addictions because they “strengthen us and make our lives more satisfying. Positive addicts because, due to their addictions, they are almost always stronger than nonpositively addicted people who lead similar lives. With this added strength they live with more confidence, more creativity, and more happiness, and usually in much better health.”
He says “the problem is we don’t have the strength to do what will make us happy.” Instead we give up. “Some give up completely and more give up partly, not because they don’t want happiness-they want it as much as anyone else. They give up because at this miserable point in their lives, happiness in not even on their minds. What is on their minds is the hope that through giving up they will get relief from the constant misery of not having and of believing they probably never will have what they need.”
Many blot out of their minds what they might do to get stronger; they settle for a minimal life because they haven’t the strength for a better one. We choose a lot of our misery. And while your pain is reduced for a while when you give up it tends to return because you can’t give up permanently on what you need for happiness without suffering.”
He gives two basic solutions. His favorite positive addiction is running. He loves this positive addiction because runners get high. When you run and push yourself a bit endorphins are released and you get what is called runners high. You feel great and over time you are increasing your power to do what you want to do (including quitting a negative addiction).
The second solution is meditation. When we pray to Jesus Christ we are meditating on Someone who has the power to help us. When we pray in God’s will we will see answers starting to emerge. For example I prayer “God take this anger out of me”. For me this was a massive fight but I could see God working on my anger because it was in his will for me to get it out. We need to pray about the many little things that lead us back into addiction.
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