Can An Addict Teach Us About Personal Growth:Part 1

What can an addict teach us about personal growth?

A great deal. There's a great deal wisdom to be discovered by the addict’s journey from dependency to recovery.

I recognize that some of you scanning this now maynot be drug addicts and alcoholics. That’s all right – but you stand to acquire great insight from the experience of those who have struggled and overcome a dangerous addiction. There are a lot of parallels between recovery and personal development. Many would reason that their paths are really one and the same.

Living with a recovering drug addict , one of my loves is exploring the process of defeating addiction. While there are several different recovery programs, most of them share a lot of of the same features, so individulas who discover success in recovery do so by adopting a similar path. Here are a few of the things that lead to long term sobriety, while as well having pragmatic application for personal development:

Defeating addiction calls for overwhelming power

This was a big awakening for me personally. It took me awhi;le to realize just how strong of a commitment was called for for long term sobriety.

Applying overwhelming power is counter-intuitive. We don’t require it for 99 % of our day-to-day interactions. For instance, let’s say you want to pick up your front room. Would it truly be essential to individually dust and then hand-wash each whatnot, steam clean every square inch of rug, wash and repaint the walls and the ceiling, vacuum all cloths and drapery, and so forth? Naturally not. This is overwhelming power, and it’s plainly not essential in this situation. We get pretty good outcomes (a clean front room) with only a small investment (quick dusting and vacuuming). We can see this same case acted out in a million different places. Put in a small effort, and get a small return. Almost all of our basic, day-to-day experiences reinforce this concept.

Addiction and recovery does not work like that in the least. A small effort in defeating addiction will always result in relapse. It's only through the use of overwhelming power that an addict can defeat the unbelievable pull of addiction. Lukewarm efforts or even a moderately strong commitment will result in full failure. This is why a lot of addicts battle for several years, going in and out of treatment plans, only to someday (hopefully) work out the intense level of personal commitment needed to succeed.

For a lot of addicts and alcoholics, addiction is a life-or-death circumstance. They're surviving on the brink of absolute destruction at the hands of these chemicals. Suppose your goals in personal development were of a life-or-death nature. So use this precept to dominate your personal development goals.

Be sure to check back for the rest of this series.