IF YOU ARE or have ever been addicted to something, smoking say - when you smoked that first cigarette, you thought, ‘That’s good, it might taste a bit unpleasant, but the euphoria it gives me is great, I’d like more of that,’ so you created a pleasurable memory of the smoking experience for later reference. As each cigarette is puffed from then on, the feeling of euphoria continues, so another pleasurable feeling is added to memory.
Any un-pleasurable sensations of say a coughing fit or a bad taste in the mouth are slyly discarded or completely ignored so that only the good feelings remain for ready reference. As more and more cigarettes are smoked, the good feelings get bigger and better and the need to re-experience the euphoria increases as you continually refer back to those memories.
As the pleasurable memories grow, the need eventually switches from a good feeling of euphoria and relaxation to a craving. It becomes an addiction, something you then believe you cannot possibly live without.
This same scenario can be attributed to anything that you believe you want badly enough. It can be alcohol, material possessions, sexual pleasure, or an adrenalin rush, or something as simple as health and fitness, love and recognition, or spirituality and enlightenment. As long as you believe you can gain something from it, especially pleasure, you will pursue it.
The more times you experience the addictive sensation, the more the memories grow and the more you will seek that experience again. If you continue to dabble in any of those memories from the past, they will all progress from a recreational pastime to an addiction, causing undue problems for all concerned. All of this is the ego’s doing – the person you think you are...
Dan’s Quote: "All addictions are unconscious."
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