Love this. Yes, clear seeing may be the real prayer. Awareness is key! I'm aware of my addictions. I accept them (coffee, primarily). And when it goes is not up to me. I am successfully able to take long breaks, tho. It's in God's capable hands. Meantime, I enjoy my cuppa half caf!
Oh no- don’t talk about coffee addiction around other writers! The articles about how good coffee is for you always amuse me. Usually they are talking about 10 cups😂
Silence- we’re on the same page. Don’t think I’ll be giving that up any time soon. Although the need for silence can be troublesome when God gives you noise!
Yes, it’s a good story and one Dad told often. He sponsored tons of people in AA and founded an outreach for other lawyers.
Very similar to Wayne’s actually. Wayne has said that was what set him on his path. He wanted to figure out how addictions of 25 years could disappear in a blink.
Nice post! I agree that ‘seeing’ the addiction for what it is, is a blessing, though one we often resist. Deeply grateful for the grace of an addiction lifting away.
Thanks, Katharine! Sometimes I think we resist because we are worried about how life will be without these addictive actions. They’re familiar! There is a lot of space to sink in to without them. Yes, a true blessing!🙏❤️
Addictions are a favorite theme... and I agree that seeing is a huge step indeed. There is one book I love which is called When Society Becomes an Addict by Anne Wilson Schaef. She makes the point that we live in an addictive society and we all have addictions. All... However, many people will never realize that because that's considered the norm. Thank you for writing about it! And I love the shoes 🤗
When I first considered not drinking alcohol, all the advertising that says “drinking is good for you” and “it relieves stress” became highlighted. ‘You are cool if you drink this brand.” We can easily fall asleep to what is actually happening.
Haha the shoes. I took that picture a few years ago to send to my daughter who once asked the question “Why did God make shopping?
Great point about the normalization of addiction!🙏
I love this question, “Why did God make shopping?." Well, I don't have an answer on behalf of God but I have an answer on behalf of our current economic system. Our economies are based on the belief that human wants and needs are unlimited, while the resources available to satisfy them are limited. That's why from an early age we are conditioned to believe that we need to fight for things, that success is about having things, and also that 'us winning' means 'someone else loosing.'
The reality is that our needs are not that unlimited. However, the whole current economic system is designed to make us want more and more. It's like filling an endless pit. Without that the world as we know it will collapse.
I spoke around 13 years ago with the Danish representative of one thought-leadership group. He shared some exensive research prooving that people can work only app. 10 -15 years in their life for 3-4 days a week and they will produce enough resources to sustain their whole life. Now, with the recent developments of technology, those numbers are even smaller probably. However, for that to work, we need to come to the assumption that our needs are actually not unlimited and resources are pretty abundant. I don't see this happening though...
Wow, Natalia. Thanks for really nailing this so well. I appreciate your taking the time to write this.
I have dipped in and out of seeing this conditioned greed all my life and how it has impacted myself and many people I have been close to. Living in this culture makes it very difficult to pull back.
I definitely don’t have an answer, but I love your support in naming what IS happening. We can look and sometimes we’ll SEE. Awareness always seems to be the first step!
I like how you put it: " normalization of addiction." I also remember times in my executive career when the normal thing was to rely on coffee in the morning to get your energy going and then rely on alcohol in the evening to be able to fall asleep after a tough day. And you are right, I also remember reading how good coffee and wine are for you on a daily basis. I think many people still believe it. I wrote a while back an article called "Caffeinated Living: Feeding the Cravings Starves the Soul." When I published it, I had a massive unsubscribe... Just another confirmation how unwilling we are to see, bringing us back to what you originally wrote about. Thank you!
Love this. Yes, clear seeing may be the real prayer. Awareness is key! I'm aware of my addictions. I accept them (coffee, primarily). And when it goes is not up to me. I am successfully able to take long breaks, tho. It's in God's capable hands. Meantime, I enjoy my cuppa half caf!
Oh, I'm addicted to Silence, too. ☺️
Oh no- don’t talk about coffee addiction around other writers! The articles about how good coffee is for you always amuse me. Usually they are talking about 10 cups😂
Silence- we’re on the same page. Don’t think I’ll be giving that up any time soon. Although the need for silence can be troublesome when God gives you noise!
Thank you!
P.s. very touched about your Dad's story. Reminds me of Wayne's own story. Grace! It's all Grace, actually! Yay! Not up to us. Yay!
Yes, it’s a good story and one Dad told often. He sponsored tons of people in AA and founded an outreach for other lawyers.
Very similar to Wayne’s actually. Wayne has said that was what set him on his path. He wanted to figure out how addictions of 25 years could disappear in a blink.
Yay, Grace!
🙏🙏🙏
Nice post! I agree that ‘seeing’ the addiction for what it is, is a blessing, though one we often resist. Deeply grateful for the grace of an addiction lifting away.
Thanks, Katharine! Sometimes I think we resist because we are worried about how life will be without these addictive actions. They’re familiar! There is a lot of space to sink in to without them. Yes, a true blessing!🙏❤️
Addictions are a favorite theme... and I agree that seeing is a huge step indeed. There is one book I love which is called When Society Becomes an Addict by Anne Wilson Schaef. She makes the point that we live in an addictive society and we all have addictions. All... However, many people will never realize that because that's considered the norm. Thank you for writing about it! And I love the shoes 🤗
Oh no- that would be funny about the reaction to your article about caffeine if it weren’t so sad. It’s kind of shocking to me!
I can only say that people need to “have ears to hear” and we don’t hear without them.
I guess this is why we find ourselves in recovery from trying to help!
Thank you!
It is indeed sad but it is funny as well! I think we see what we are ready to see and nothing more. Thank you too!
Thanks, Natalia. This is so true.
When I first considered not drinking alcohol, all the advertising that says “drinking is good for you” and “it relieves stress” became highlighted. ‘You are cool if you drink this brand.” We can easily fall asleep to what is actually happening.
Haha the shoes. I took that picture a few years ago to send to my daughter who once asked the question “Why did God make shopping?
Great point about the normalization of addiction!🙏
I love this question, “Why did God make shopping?." Well, I don't have an answer on behalf of God but I have an answer on behalf of our current economic system. Our economies are based on the belief that human wants and needs are unlimited, while the resources available to satisfy them are limited. That's why from an early age we are conditioned to believe that we need to fight for things, that success is about having things, and also that 'us winning' means 'someone else loosing.'
The reality is that our needs are not that unlimited. However, the whole current economic system is designed to make us want more and more. It's like filling an endless pit. Without that the world as we know it will collapse.
I spoke around 13 years ago with the Danish representative of one thought-leadership group. He shared some exensive research prooving that people can work only app. 10 -15 years in their life for 3-4 days a week and they will produce enough resources to sustain their whole life. Now, with the recent developments of technology, those numbers are even smaller probably. However, for that to work, we need to come to the assumption that our needs are actually not unlimited and resources are pretty abundant. I don't see this happening though...
Wow, Natalia. Thanks for really nailing this so well. I appreciate your taking the time to write this.
I have dipped in and out of seeing this conditioned greed all my life and how it has impacted myself and many people I have been close to. Living in this culture makes it very difficult to pull back.
I definitely don’t have an answer, but I love your support in naming what IS happening. We can look and sometimes we’ll SEE. Awareness always seems to be the first step!
Appreciate your comments!
I like how you put it: " normalization of addiction." I also remember times in my executive career when the normal thing was to rely on coffee in the morning to get your energy going and then rely on alcohol in the evening to be able to fall asleep after a tough day. And you are right, I also remember reading how good coffee and wine are for you on a daily basis. I think many people still believe it. I wrote a while back an article called "Caffeinated Living: Feeding the Cravings Starves the Soul." When I published it, I had a massive unsubscribe... Just another confirmation how unwilling we are to see, bringing us back to what you originally wrote about. Thank you!