Sometimes when we break a habit or addiction we find ourselves missing it like a dear friend.
Whenever we make the effort to free ourselves of an addiction or a habit we no longer need, we are often surprised to find ourselves missing the old pattern as we would a familiar friend. This sounds counterintuitive, because we think we should instinctively gravitate toward that which is good for us. And yet, it makes a lot of sense when you consider that we humans are creatures of habit. This is why we gravitate to people and places—and patterns of behavior--that make us feel comfortable. Therefore, many of the habits we form are not conscious and are based instead on learned behavior from role models who were not always making the healthiest decisions.
Most addictions begin as a way of avoiding feelings that are extremely uncomfortable, so it makes sense that stopping the addiction means, for a time, a fair amount of discomfort. The same, of course, is true of habits that we have developed over time that we are ready to release. Just knowing that this is hard, and having compassion for ourselves as we work through this process, can help us to stay the course when we feel the urge to backtrack. It's also helpful to remember that in time we will establish new, healthier patterns, and the yearning for the old ones will disappear. Eventually, we will instinctively reach for things that are good for us, and the longing for positive change may form the basis of a new habit.
The only way to get to this new place is to endure a time of difficulty, which is a challenge we can confidently handle, if we remember that it will lead to the change we seek in our lives. Our bodies, hearts, and minds always need time to adjust to a new way of doing things, but they will adapt, and even become our allies, if we remain true to our vision of a new way.
Clinical depression affects 20,000,000 Americans every year. Tens of millions more suffer from bouts of the blues. Even these large numbers do not capture the extent to which today's smart, sensitive people are burdened by a sadness that is neither biological nor psychological in nature. In this course you will gain the tools you need to deal with this sadness in groundbreaking ways that complement--and may even have the power to replace--medication and psychotherapy. Do you have difficulties sleeping? Are you tired a lot? Do you have trouble finding pleasure at home and at work? Is it hard for you to make decisions? Are you uncertain about your path in life, irritable and out of sorts, or hungry all the time? All of these are signs of the modern ache that we have come to call depression--a label that people are pressured to pin on themselves. In this course you'll learn a new way of thinking about depression and a new method for getting past "symptoms" right to the heart of matter.
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