Personalized Addictions

Just like a glass of whiskey or some drug, we have become addicted to personal thought patterns which we use to handle all issues in our lives. Exactly like an alcoholic reaches for a drink to solve a problem, we reach for a memorized ‘thought pattern’ for assistance.

Someone knocks on your door at 3:30 in the afternoon. There is no thinking, just a bringing to mind of a ‘get rid of solicitor’ script. No matter the question, there is no new thinking, just the cueing up of an applicable phrase to recite.

And consider ‘pleasures’ that we enjoy. Suppose you are asked, ‘What do you want to do this afternoon?’ With no interest in exploring anything novel, we elect to summon the well-worn list of past activities as the only alternatives.

We are literally addicted to our past, fixated on what worked before.

Is it possible that we can’t stop this way of reacting?

That we will never again attempt exploration or fanciful freedom? That all options – other than our own – are off the table?

If all of our personal addictions were of the highest quality, we’d be fine. But, even as you read these words your past experiences are dictating to you what the words mean and the extent of their value.

When predicaments arise we all grab for something to help. Maybe we need something like A.A. to convey an understanding that there are other possibilities available other than consultation of memories.

I’ll drink to that.