Have you ever noticed that a lot of times people quitting extreme habits will pick up a replacement habit on the opposite extreme?
Like, you quit drinking alcohol so now you've got ten prescriptions that keep you from going bat-shit crazy.
Or you quit manufacturing meth, so now you're going to seminary school.
Or you renounced the tyrannical religious beliefs practiced by your family, so now you're gonna be a tyrannical atheist.
It's almost like they have an unhealthy compulsion to get as far away from their former self as possible.
I say embrace your former self, and all of her flaws and misguided beliefs. You couldn't have gotten to where you are now without her!
Not that you should continue practicing old habits that don't serve you, or holding beliefs once you've identified them as false. But just honoring the person you were--and all the trials and tribulations that person went through to bring you to where you are today--is a healthier way to deal with your past.
When a person swings from one extreme to another in their pursuit of truth or happiness, it is a sign that they aren't comfortable with themselves. They don't have a sense for what's really true--or the logical deduction to figure it out--so they jump from teaching to guru to self-help book to church and parrot what they hear there. They don't have an internal well of happiness to draw from, so they seek it from drugs or religion, and they never find it.
