THE WISDOM OF THE ADDICT
THE WISDOM OF THE ADDICT
April 6, 2023 · by The Escape Artist ·
“Dr Anna Lembke MD points out that recovered addicts are heros because they managed to successfully navigate dopamine dynamics— which is something that almost everyone else, addict or not, grapples with in our modern world & we don’t even realize.”
Professor Andrew Huberman
I’ve been reading a bunch of Quit Lit (books about recovery and addiction) recently and I tell you…those guys are onto something. The recovered addict has a hard-won wisdom that eludes the rest of us.
Recovered addicts are an edge case for negotiating and taming desire. Recovered addicts have learned to be okay…no, better than okay…with less. Recovering addicts have chosen minimalism and it has saved their life.
The recovered addict takes nothing for granted. The recovered addict has looked deep into The Abyss and stepped back from the brink. They know how close they came in the past and how close they may come again in the future.
You’re worried about “giving up your treats”?? You don’t think there is any scope to cut out any spending / distractions / addictions / behaviours from your life??
The recovered addict has thought deeper about the trade-offs in spending and consumption than any of the rest of us mortals.
The recovered addict has learnt the hard way that sometimes our “treats” are a trap. They learned that their favourite habit was quietly killing them (or perhaps it was the obstacle that was stopping them getting to the next level?).
Quit Lit is an oasis of wisdom (and this book is my personal favourite).
In a world of internet clickbait and information overload, wisdom becomes the scarcest and most valuable commodity. Wisdom is the key to long term survival and staying in the money game.
Let’s be honest…we are cheating a little bit here because we are observing the world of hardcore addiction from a safe distance. When lived up close and personal the world of the (unrecovered) addict is not wise, not glamorous and probably not much fun whatsoever.
They say we should learn from our mistakes – and that’s true – but what if we could learn from other people’s mistakes as well?
The Nerd reads endless books but takes no action. The recovered addict has internalised their learning and acted upon it. They have not just read about Monk Mode, they have seen the hearse get backed up and they have smelt the roses. The recovered addict has changed their life.
The recovered addict lives in the present: they are no longer trapped in their past. They made a clean break and the years in their life will forever be marked BC / AD (before crisis and after addiction??).
The recovered addict takes pleasure in getting through each day, one at a time. They no longer obsess about a future that is beyond their controllable time horizon.
The recovered addict does not fret about The News. They do not fret about whether their portfolio went up or down today because they know (and I mean they truly know) the difference between what they can control and what they can not.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://theescapeartist.me/2023/04/06/the-wisdom-of-the-addict/