What is Addiction?
Merriam Webster defines addiction as being "strongly inclined or compelled to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly". I feel that this definition is very accurate, but what most people don't realize is that almost every single day to day activity that we do is an addiction. Maybe every morning you are compelled to stretch before you get out of bed, you might exercise or go to the gym on a daily basis, or maybe you even love to take showers consistently so you don't smell bad. You may be noticing a theme here-- Not all "addictions" have to be bad.
The Big Picture
I'm sure you've heard horror stories of heroin addicts or alcoholics that live their entire lives on the streets, but in reality addiction is a lot more complicated than a substance or habit "controlling" someone and forcing repeated behavior. Let's take coffee for example. If you tend to start your morning with a cup of coffee, you would probably feel terrible for awhile if you tried to end that behavior, but the reason you started to use coffee habitually is probably not because you can't tolerate caffeine withdrawals, you simply crave the energetic feeling coffee gives you. Of course, quitting coffee would not actually be THAT terrible, but most people simply continue this behavior without realizing that caffeine can subtly begin controlling your lifestyle. This philosophy can be applied to every single action we do, even eating and sleeping.
Why do People Have Addictions?
Every single addiction can be tied down to an individuals lack of contentment with their current state of consciousness. Addiction does not happen because of substances or habits, it happens because people crave to attain a certain state or feeling for prolonged periods of time, and often desire that feeling so much that they would like to feel that way all the time. People get addictions for many different reasons, but the widely accepted idea that doing something once causes you to become addicted is simply flawed. Addiction cannot be portrayed using generalizations, and the reason one person becomes addicted to something will vary drastically from the next.
How do I Stop an Addiction?
The only way to truly prevent Addiction is to attain the ability to become completely content with each moment, and to apply this contentment into your daily life. You can then separate your compulsive desires from the ones that you truly value the most, and shape your daily life accordingly. You may now be thinking that it's impossible to become content or that your only happy when you succumb to your addiction, but it IS possible for you to live a life where you only do the things you truly want.
The Beauty of Meditation
Before you click off of the page and leave a comment calling me a Hippie, read this section. Meditation is not just something for buddhists or spiritual gurus, and you can use meditation to help you realize what you truly want out of life. The thing that makes addiction truly devastating is when someone thinks that whatever they are addicted to is the only thing that they care about, but this is simply not true. Heroin addicts don't truly value the feeling of euphoria over their relationships with their families or the world around them, but are often just blind to the fact that they have been suppressing their core values the entire time. Substances and habits often alter one's perspective in a way that makes it easier to ignore everyday problems, but the problem comes when they are used in a way that begins to effect an individual's life negatively. Meditation is a way for individuals to dive into themselves and see issues that may have been hidden by a substance, and it is also arguably one of the most comfortable methods to confront worldly issues.
Summary
In retrospect to the entire idea of problematic addictions, many individuals are perfectly happy with their way of life even though it may seem odd to others. Society seems to have a very closed-minded view on addiction, but each individual is vastly different than the next, and even the most "enlightened" or "knowledgeable" individuals have habits that they allow to control their lives; the issue is that these habits can be viewed as negative or positive by different individuals. The lesson here is that respecting the philosophy of others is important, but so is inspiring others to see aspects of life from different perspectives. Take a look at your day to day activities and see if there is anything you want to change, and please leave a comment down below with your input on addiction!