Understanding & Releasing From The Grip of The Addictive Process
The Addictive Process is one of the more valuable filters from which to view pathology. It is present not only in our compulsions: drug abuse, alcoholism, gambling, sex, spending, clutter, eating disorders, but in a broad array of dysfunction.
The addictive process is one where I numb out to the ever-changing inner process that is my authentic beingness, and I act and think from a ‘concept’ I hold of who I am and how life ‘should’ be. In a healthy process, when things go wrong, I access my unfolding authenticity, take responsibility for my part and awaken to new realizations that change how I’m creating my life. In an addictive process, I cannot access my authentic process, and simply ‘blame’ what’s wrong on the others involved or on structures external to me. Since the authentic process leads to realizations and growth, my responses are ever new. The response of the addict is predictable: he will always blame, always pay homage to the same concepts, always see himself as ‘right’ and the other as ‘wrong’, his efforts as ‘noble’ and ‘sabotaged’ by the other. He holds onto his view even in the face of obvious failure, because the alternative would involve piercing through his numbness to the place of Truth – that I am the Creator of how I navigate my life – and the myriad of emotions: guilt, shame, aloneness, inadequacy, fear, cluelessness, hope, talent, capacities, values, aspiration, inspiration, love etc. that flow about on the authentic level of Beingness.
Although the study of the addictive process is beyond the scope of this sharing, there are three awarenesses that are important to have:
1. The Addictive process is a destructive one that wreaks havoc all along, is progressive, and left unchecked leads to death of the organism.
2. We each vacillate from being in touch with our ever-changing inner process to numbing out and acting ‘as if’, i.e. we each have the healthy and the addictive process in our repertoire.
3. The addictive process can be the prevailing process in an individual, a family, a community, and organization, a nation, the planet.
Spirituality
By definition, the addict is numbed out to what truly matters and acting from a ‘concept’ of what is going on. The turning point for the addict is when the pain of what is being destructed pierces through his numbness and he ‘experiences’ that there is something he wills more than he wills his compulsion. He might will to keep his career, or the love of his wife and children, or his health. But fundamentally it is the ‘will’ to thrive. The inquiry into what Sources my Life, my full aliveness; what is the greatest expression of Who-I-Am, and what I am here for, is the quintessential Spiritual Quest. Not to be confused with religion, the spiritual journey is unique to each of us. I believe my gift is my ability to see the Light in you. My commitment is to facilitate your courage in living in your Light.
Spirituality is distinct from religion.