addiction

Short and Sweet #131 – Adapt or Suffer

/ Tim Custis / Leave a comment

It is important in life to be able to adapt to our current situation. This does not mean that we give up. What it does mean is that we accept our current circumstances and then take action to create what we want. Why is it important to adapt? Life is always changing whether we want it to or not, whether we notice it or not. Change is constant in this life, to think otherwise is an error and will lead to suffering. If we do not learn to adapt then we will suffer more because we will always want things to be different from what they are. This is resisting what is and remember that whatever we resist will persist and intensify.

I have a friend who has many health issues, most of them are related to her life style and habits. She refuses to stop smoking or drinking and jokes about this as though it were a badge of honor. I understand the power of addiction, but even an addict must adapt or die. When we ignore the messages of our body and continue to do what hurts it then we will suffer. We can be so focused on wanting to keep doing what we like that we cannot see the big picture. We must listen to our body, intuition and higher guidance then adapt our behaviors to heal and stop suffering.

Another example is someone I know who had to move to another city for work. They did not want to move but had no choice since there was no work in their hometown. Moving out of state was difficult for this person and they felt homesick and lonely. Now over two years later this person still complains about being homesick and lonely. When our past becomes our story in the present, we suffer waiting for something that will never show up again.

We can always find new ways to connect with people, our bodies and where we live; our nature is to connect. We can always find ways to adapt and change how we feel about the circumstances we are in and our lives. Everyone has resisted a new situation in his or her life, perhaps a new job, moving, health issue or some other unforeseen occurrence. Having adapted to it we become more comfortable and this frees up energy to create something different, if we want. Often when we let go and adapt we find we like our new circumstances. Our happiness or lack thereof is not created or taken away by external circumstances. We do that all on our own by not adapting and resisting the here and now.

 

**If you like this post please help me by sharing it. Have it delivered to your inbox by signing up for an email subscription on your right.

What’s on your mind? I am always open to questions and comments or for a healthy and supportive discussion about these topics.

Short and Sweet #98 – You Are Divine

/ Tim Custis / Leave a comment

Over the last few days, I have had several conversations and emails about different subjects; however, the underlying theme was the same. We are conditioned by beliefs that are handed down from generation to generation and we forget we are Divine beings. We live life based on this conditioning and do not question it because it is all we remember.

Do you think a Divine being is capable of healing, protecting itself and able to create the life that it wants? When we lose touch with are True-Self and take on the stories of our past we begin to believe that this is who we are. I lived for years with physical and emotional pain all while living an alcoholic life, however this is not who I am. I was never the alcoholic; I was the Divine being experiencing alcoholism. Maybe you were abused, raped or had some other horrible thing happen to you. Do not deny that these things happened, but they do not define who you are now, unless you let them. When we can recognize this and release the past as defining who we are, we can uncover the True-Self, the Divine being underneath the conditioning.

Do not forget who you are and always question anything that is a fear-based belief in your life. Fear only arises within when we lose touch with who we really are and continue to play out the story that our mind is telling us. In the work of Byron Katie called The Work, you ask four questions:

1. Is it true? (Yes or no. If no, move to 3.)

2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? (Yes or no.)

3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?

4. Who would you be without the thought?

Many of us live our lives without questioning our thoughts or actions. We believe everything our mind tells us which leads to perpetuating the stories of our past and holding onto who we have become instead of living from the Divine-Self. Each moment affords us the opportunity to let go and start living life from this place. If we see this as difficult or hard then it will be. If we see this as our birthright and who we really are, then all the rest will begin to let go. With awareness on your part and a willingness to succeed you cannot fail, because if you are ready to wake up you are going to wake up. If you are not, then you will continue to live out your life from the stories of your past and the False-Self.

 

**If you like this post please help your friends by sharing it. Have it delivered to your inbox by signing up for an email subscription on your right.

What’s on your mind? I am always open to questions and comments or for a healthy and supportive discussion about these topics.

Short and Sweet #54 – Addiction and Spirituality

/ Tim Custis / 1 Comment

Are you wondering what addiction and spirituality have to do with one another? The answer is everything! I have had my share of addictions in life from something serious like alcoholism, cigarettes and drugs to the more socially accepted things like TV and candy. I believe that we live in a world full of addicts. We are addicted to video games, social media, and food, sex, shopping and prescription drugs; really, anything you can think of somebody is probably addicted to it, somewhere. Why are we such an addicted world? The reason is simple we are searching to strengthen our spiritual connection in all the wrong places. We are trying to fill that empty place within us with whatever we can find. It works temporally but it always fall short until we find the real thing. The interesting thing is that once we do, the addiction goes away. Now you can stop your addiction(s) temporarily without a deeper connection to spirit but eventually you will fall back into the addiction or you will walk around feeling empty and lost, possibly have mild depression or some other malady.

If you take an honest look at your life I suspect that you will find an addiction, perhaps something you dealt with in the past or you suffer from now, maybe both. Too often they are overlooked, partly because we are in denial and partly because we do not think they are serious. Sweets and social media are perfect examples of addictions that we overlook and ignore how they can hurt us. The obvious thing with sweets or should I say sugar is the damage done to our physical health. It works silently in the body and over the years damages our health until we become sick. Our sickness is often attributed to a disease, which is not the real cause but a result of our addiction. However, aside from the physical damage, there is a much deeper problem going on here and it is a spiritual problem. Let me assure you that no matter how minor you think your addictions are they are a warning sign. Once we connect to the Divine on a deeper level then healing can take place. Start by paying more attention to what and why you do things. Notice how you are feeling before, during and after, pay attention to your thoughts and actions. Remember, the reason never comes from outside you and the solution always comes from within. Finally please get help if you need it, you are not alone on this journey.