Addiction II

Daily Meditation 655–12/13/2023

We just talked addiction a week ago (and talk about it often), but let’s do it a bit more.

No one decides to become an alcoholic. Or a drug abuser. Or a habitual pot smoker. Or the guy who smokes 3 packs a day and has a behind-the-back nickname “Smokestack” (that was me at 20 at my first job). When you were in elementary school, you didn’t answer the “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with “I wanna be a sex addict who either watches porno 4 hours a day or hunts Tinder for hook ups to sate my thirst!” or “I want to be a coke fiend who’s sneaking bumps off the tank of my office toilet while dripping sweat 4 or 5 times daily.” There isn’t someone saying “When I grow up, I want to be sodomized by strangers for $50 with which I’ll go get my next hit of China White injected between my toes.”

No one intentionally wants to be an addict. No one.

So, why do we allow ourselves to get into the position of addiction? Yes, sometimes the addictions end up being reactions to childhood traumas like molestation. But generally, we’re just dumb teenagers who party, then grow into adults who party, and then one day we wake up and realize, well…we’re now 31 and taking a few shots of $4.89 vodka at 5am to get a buzz before our 8am shift.

Today you are young. Maybe 19 or 21 or so. You feel young. You look young. You hit the clubs all night, guzzle drinks, then wake up a bit late, but feeling okay. You’re out all night on the weekend, laughing (and puking) it up with…