Sunday, June 15, 2008

'Addiction'

Another 'Shabbat thought' (which too is self evident for the most part); I was pondering the nature of 'addictions' and their proper definition- An addiction is in essence something which someone inhales, ingests, or does to themselves or others that heightens their pleasure. But after a while the pleasure is so heightened that that amount of pleasure becomes the norm (and not necessarily 'pleasureful'). For example the gentleman who smokes; after a while of smoking often he would 'need' a cigarette at certain intervals, and would be hard pressed to go without it. Hard pressed? I personally have never smoked and I feel quite alright. I admit smoking is a higher pleasure for him, but a pain without? Quite so! Because that level of pleasure (as I said) becomes the new status quo. ...anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that I suppose the best remedy for escaping any addiction is a stark realization that whatever it is is not necessary for the body. The problem is though, that we realize it, but always have these pleasures at our fingertips, so why go without. Obviously many need heavy treatment to fully conquer an addiction, but again, the main idea I'm entertaining here is the realization that even though it may be close, we must be honest with ourselves that they are not necessities, and slowly go back to our 'natural' level of pleasure and only involve ourselves in things that we would naturally feel deprived without.

הרחמן הוא יחזירנו לטבע ולבע גופינו כאשר הוא בראם בטובו הגדוך עלינו- אמן! י

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