Addiction - A Word not A Sentence.

I noticed in the paper on sunday a story on a former world champion boxer and his battle with alcohol, and I got thinking about the issue of addiction. Not a foreigner to alcohol and its hold it has over people i am very aware personally of the issue of addiction. It is interesting that many of the people who suffer from addictions of all sorts from alcohol, drugs, risky behaviours, internet, gaming, sex, porn and more are often those who are high achievers in other areas of their lives.

They demonstrate focus, determination, perseverance, risk taking, discipline and all that it takes to succeed, yet at some point in their lives they find themselves powerless over some form of addiction. Despite all their efforts they are unable to break free and live, what they believe to be, a normal life free of their particular 'drug'.

Yet there is another side of their success in life which plays a large part in their being captured by addiction. The thrill of the chase, the adrenalin rush which comes from being out there taking risks. When that is no longer there and is not being satisfied in positive ways, this need finds a way of being met. It often starts off innocently and appears harmless, yet a theme of addiction is that it is progressive, i.e. it always moves forward and becomes something bigger, requiring more to satisfy the need.

And it never goes away fully. When you step off the train, the next time you get back on you start from there, not at the beginning. So it only gets worse and can get to that point where, after many efforts to change behaviour, it becomes all too hard and you simply give up and immerse yourself in your addiction.

How do we deal with this addiction. It is simple but not easy. It is about building up our resiliency day by day so that we no longer see ourselves as victims. Victimhood plays are large role in addictive behaviours, so does boredom, inaction and loneliness.

We develop our resiliency and ability to cope by:
developing connections with significant others in our lives, focussing on building relationships that are more than casual and passing;
ensuring that we are involved in positive activities which feed our need for recognition, success and value and sometimes push us beyond our limits;
taking back control of our lives from those people who blame for our situation no matter how much we may love them.

We also need to be aware of what places us in the at risk space where, before we know it we are indulging in our own particular addiction. HALT is a suitable acronym : Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, on their own each one increases the risk of 'reoffending' but in combinations of two or more, it spells trouble.

When faced by any of the above take positive steps to deal with it - get something to eat, eat regularly; talk to someone about your anger, go for a run or do some exercise, weed the garden; find someone to talk to, make a phone call or just go and get a coffee and talk to a stranger in the coffee lounge; get some sleep, develop a regular sleep pattern, turn off all electronic devices in your bedroom. There are many more.

The last thing is to remember that addictions are common and there are many people suffering the same addiction or set of addictions as you are. You are not alone and as you begin to confront your addictions you will begin to meet and come in contact with others, and together support one another.

Thus you become resilient, able to celebrate your successes and not be bowed down by your failures, able to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and move forward. Life is a journey and it is not how many times you fall down that counts, but how many times you get up.

The Easter Trading Debate

When I joined the Salvation Army as an officer in training in 1976 the concept of trading on Christmas and Easter was simply not on the radar. It was a concept we could not conceive of in any shape or form. On our Sundays out at the training corps (church) we were not allowed to buy anything including a Sunday paper! On the odd occaision somebody did we were all marshalled for a lecture on the evils of doing business on a Sunday.

How far have we come? Today not only do Christians go to the shops, movies, sporting events on Sunday, they own the shops, they work in them and they are fully involved with Sunday trading. In fact it isn't even raised as an issue any more.

So why are we concerned about trading on Good Friday, Easter Sunday or Christmas Day? Hasn't the horse actually bolted a long time ago? Many areas already have Easter Sunday trading, Star City casino will be open and we have football matches played on Good Friday, attended, often by sell out crowds. At those football matches you can gamble on the outcome by buying tickets in the first scorer etc.

The debate has been sparked by the proposed opening of TAB outlets on Good Friday. As a non-gambler I can see no need for the outlets to be open and to encourage gambling, especially when there are no race meetings allowed (yet) in Australia. But commercially I understand their desire. You can already gamble on Good Friday, on the internet through commercial gambling organisations, so if, as the TAB is, you are in competition with them you would like to operate at the same times as they do. Interestingly, as many of these outlets are now placed in hotels which will not be opening on Good Friday I struggle with how this does give opportunity for people to gamble any way. But....

Gambling is, like alcohol, a major problem in our society and we don't need more opportunities to binge on either. Yet will one more day make a difference or is it just a last ditch stand against the inevitbable?

While as a Christian I do believe Good Friday is important (understatement), Australia has moved from a perceved Christian Country to a multi-cultural/multi-faith one and perhaps it is no longer appropriate or even practical to hold Christian festivals as sacred and to be observed by all.

Perhaps as Christian the importance of this debate is to reflect on how we have been complicit in the watering down of the sacred in our lives. How do we live and do we live in a way that keeps the Sabbath Holy? Can we imagine people today refusing to particiapate in a sporting event because it is held on Sundays, or Good Friday? Can we imagine saying no to our children's sport, movies or shopping specifically becuase it is on a Sunday? What is our faith asking of us and how do we engage in this debate, if we have already accepted as normal that Sunday is just another day.

Interested to read what you think?
(The thoughts expressed here are designed to get you thinking only)