"I look inside myself to find my peace"

Thursday

How Addiction Effects Our Life of Purpose.



"The purpose of life is a life of purpose" When I read this quote I realized that this is what everyone needs to live by in order to feel content, gratitude and happy about their lives. Having a purpose. When a human-being has no purpose in their lives they are much more susceptible to staying or becoming addicts. Be it drugs, alcohol, over-eating, over-shopping, to name a few. Everyone of us feels the need to have purpose, be needed, feel worthy, have approval, even being looked up to. When we lack those feelings we feel empty inside and we tend to "make up" (sort of speak) for that emptiness. We do that by developing habits. Some people develop good habits and some people develop bad habits. When we are addicts we need to stop the bad habit and replace it with a good habit. So its stand to reason that when a person doesn't have these emotional-tanks filled to some degree, they are more likely to fall off the path of staying clean and sober.

We must continue at all costs to strive to have purpose in our lives. It won't be given to us. With purpose we are given the air under our wings that lifts us up away from our unhealthy addictions. Why does having a life of purpose effect us so much? I did some research about this and found some very interesting facts about how "purpose" effects our brains. Because of our limbic system located in our brains. This part of our brain directs emotion and behavior. The limbic system sets the emotional tone of information before it reaches the cortex, where most of our thinking and learning takes place. Our limbic system interprets and directs emotions and behavior. Then these emotions are sent to the cortex where it is processed. When we have purpose in our lives we have emotions of fulfillment and contentment. This is a positive state of mind and our limbic system interprets this as positive information.

Which gives us a feeling of purpose and directs our behavior to achieve and meet our goals. Of course when our feelings get hurt or we have emotional trauma in our lives, it makes us feel unhappy as if we have no purpose at all. Especially when we have not learned how to cope with or deal with negative situations very well. These kinds of emotions can lead us to finding ways to comfort ourselves, over eat, self medicate or drink too much, to forget how we're really feeling. And this happens alot to alot of people. Now think for a moment just how using drugs, alcohol or overeating (which are the 3 most common forms of addiction) will effect us. First by using artificial stimulus (some-thing external that influences an activity such as drugs, alcohol, over eating) we end up saturating our brains due to the overflow of chemicals. Drugs, alcohol or overeating effect our brains by acting to enhance or interfere with the activity of neuro- transmitters and receptors within the synapses of the brain.

Our brains are made up of neurons ( aka nerves) so whatever drugs or chemicals we put into our bodies will get to our brains but the effects are destructive not productive. This is why after so many years of drug addiction, alcoholism or over eating the effects on our brains and bodies start to take over. We've all seen people that have been addicts for a long time and the abuse they subject their bodies to, the end results are unpleasant to see. Whenever you think about something, sense something or do something, what is happening at the level of the brain is that various neurons are sending information to one another concerning what you are thinking, sensing or doing. It is at the level of this inter-neuron communication that most drugs have their effects. Either by over stimulating or preventing proper function. So the idea that we are making ourselves feel better by continuing with an addiction is in reality a harmful and false state of mind. And we cause more damage to our brains than we truly know or want to admit to.

Because our addictive thinking has clouded our reasoning and doesn't want us to stop being addicts. It's a demon we have to fight in order to gain control over our health and quality of life. When you really think about how addictions effect your brain and body to this degree. You can build on that knowledge of how to start stopping your addiction. We all know that addiction isn't good for us. But when we step back and see the true damage and we learn how our addictions really hurt us and how it disrupts our lives. We can then see that it's up to us as an individual to stop blaming everyone and everything else, take responsibility for your actions and to get the help
needed to stop being an addict. To allow ourselves to gain control and achieve a positive lifestyle, state of mind and a happier life. It is only when the addict can addmit they have this problem, they can't fix it alone and they reach out for help that they are truly on the path to recovery. We can then understand the true meaning of "getting high on life!"  Enjoy the day.


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  Copyright(c)2011-2012. How Addiction Effects Our Life of Purpose. Written by Sherrie Vitello. All Rights Reserved.

5 comments:

  1. This is very true and perhaps seeing it written here will prove more effective and credible to people I know than hearing it "yet again" from someone like me...who is not perfect either but who is at least not in denial about the nature of addictions and how easily giving up one thing can be laterally transferred into a diferent one (eg: a "dry" drunkard switching to gambling or maijuana/smoking instead). It's all about over-stimulating or blocking-out proper brain function in a false and harmful way to "feel better" except that it doesn't solve problems or keep painful realities at bay; it just costs health, money, wasted time and alienates more of whatever/whoever is around that is a positive, good and decent influence.

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  2. Thank you for the fantastic article. The place else could anyone get that kind of info in such a perfect means of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am at the search for such information.

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  3. This post can make one realise how addiction can hinder one from achieving his goals in life. Kudos for sharing!

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  4. Canh chua cá lóc là món ăn từ lâu đã quen thuộc với người dân Việt Nam đặc biệt là ở vùng miền tây Nam Bộ, buổi trưa hè nắng nóng mà được ăn tô canh chua cá lóc, kèm với món cá lóc kho tộ thì mọi cảm giác mệt mỏi sẽ bay biến mất. Bep 247 sẽ hướng dẫn các bạn cách nấu canh chua cá lóc thơm ngon hơn để bữa ăn gia đình thêm phong phú, hấp dẫn và giúp các thành viên trong gia đình đánh bay cái nắng nóng, mệt mỏi ngày hè nhé. Và một hương vị chua cay thơm ngon không kém gì món canh chua cá lóc đấy là món lẩu thái. Vào những buổi liên hoan tụ tập bạn bè hay những ngày trời se lạnh thì lẩu chính là sự lựa chọn số 1 và tuyệt vời nhất phải không nào. Nhắc đến Lẩu chắc hẳn là món quen thuộc ai cũng đã từng thưởng thức, lẩu là món dễ ăn và được nhiều người yêu thích nhất là lẩu Thái.
    Lẩu thái mang một hương vị khác biệt không lẫn với bất kỳ món lẩu nào khác bởi vị nước lẩu chua chua cay cay, với hương thơm của riềng, xả nhúng kèm với các loại rau và hải sản tươi sống.
    cách làm lẩu thái cũng không khó hay cầu kì và các chị em nội trợ nào cũng có thể nấu ngon, hãy xuống bếp để trổ tài với món lẩu thái hải sản nào.

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  5. I'm addicted to drugs and smoking and I badly want to come out from this dirt. Please tell me the actionable steps that can save me. Thanks.

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