61 The two causes of every bad habit or addiction

Everyone knows someone who has been impacted by addiction, which blurs the lines between fantasy and reality and can become completely consuming. The root of addiction is the desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain, which is “5-year-old stuff” and shouldn’t be affecting the lives of grown adults.

The two causes of every bad habit or addiction, consequently, are:

(1) to diminish physical or non-physical pain (including boredom) and

(2) to increase physical or non-physical pleasure (including solutions to boredom).

Habits and addictions are love substitutes, which block us from real love and destroy relationships. We seek love substitutes based on our beliefs, and whether they are legitimate (de facto) beliefs based in love or placebo or no-cebo beliefs based in fear. The problem that leads us to seek love substitutes is impatience and our perception that we can’t wait for the solution because of our proclivity towards instant gratification. Ultimately, this impatience comes from a wrong goal which is focused on external expectations and may indicate that we are not right spiritually.

After listening to this episode, make a list of your destructive habits and addictions; things you do or don’t do. Spend some time in prayer and meditation, focusing on your spiritual health and focusing on grace, love, and patience, which will allow you to give up control to God and delay your gratification until the right time.

You can join Dr. Alex each Wednesday for the live podcast covering the topics of health, wellness, relationships, and success, pertaining to the whole life: mind, body and spirit. They are held every Wednesday afternoon and are completely free to anyone who would like to join. As a bonus, a few callers can get a free personal custom code for any issue bothering them. 

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