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A Syndrome Unto Ourselves by MLHoullif, PhD
We are each a syndrome unto ourselves. When we, as individuals are named after our afflictions, we are robbed of our real identities along with our greatest chances for recovery. Our personal temperament is replaced by a general description of some pathology. We become our diagnoses and are perceived as diabetics, cardiacs,
arthritics, etc. All members of the same population are treated uniformly; we are stripped of our singularity and homogenized into one demographic by conventional guidelines and standard protocols. But we are not all the same, and our true redemption lies within our
idiosyncrasies.
We each have a characteristic combination of behaviors spanning the regions of diet, environment, activity and psychology. This behavioral landscape describes our lifestyle and is, for the most part, where health and disease are both created and destroyed. We must understand this pattern of living to understand why disease manifests and what we can do to prevent, manage and resolve it. That we share the same infirmity with others does not mean that we share the same sequence of events leading up to it. Our similarities begin and end with the fact that we are all anatomically human, having in common the same set of organs. But, how we respect, neglect or abuse these organs is peculiar to each one of us.
While one man may excel in activity, he may fail in diet. His environment may be optimal, while his psychological disposition, abysmal. Another man may exhibit some variation of the same elements and as a consequence suffer the same illness, but its evolution and resolution can be as disparate as each man’s habits. Since the body necessarily responds to the conditions it is subjected to, it is important that these conditions are consistent with health. We do not control the body’s response, but we do control what the body responds to. It is this unique manipulation and resulting combination and balance of conditions specific to each individual that determines the body‘s final disposition.
Where highly processed foods are found, eliminate them. Where fresh air and sunlight lack, add them. Where stress prevails, defeat it. Where exercise is absent, introduce it. Where purpose and meaning are missing, find them. Where life is - preserve it! The cause of disease is not the lack of medication. Pharmacology cannot replace the fundamentals of existence. No mortal’s credential is superior to the eternal and immutable laws of nature or to those who
uphold them. To suppress a symptom and not investigate its cause is arrogant and neglectful on the part of the attendant. Rather than manipulating the body, manipulate the environment that supports the body. Let the body heal!
Impatience favors palliation. But delaying the healing process saves no time. What we benefit by in the short run we pay dearly for down the road. Nature governs the time it takes to mend. We can either frustrate or expedite this wondrous miracle. Provide the body with proper diet, environment, activity and psychology -then - leave it alone. The innate intelligence and wisdom that constructed the organism will repair it.
To be identified and categorized by disease is reductionist. We are complex and must be understood holistically. Reducing a whole constellation of personal elements down to a simple common locus of distress is like reducing the unfathomably sophisticated healing mechanisms of the living organism down to a scab - not recognizing the elaborate chain of phenomena preceding it. No matter how simple and common the problem, its cause is as complex as our individual oddities. All diabetics are not the same. All cardiacs are not the same. Every Tom, Dick or Harry is not the same. We are distinct. We are individual. We are, each and every one of us, a syndrome unto ourselves.
“Don't Stop the Music” by MLHoullif, PhD
Life is kinetic. From the moment we enter this world until the moment we exit, we are bound by the rhythmic progression of time. This perpetual metronome dispassionately beats on unresponsive to our desperate pleas for respite. Once we leap from the mountaintop it is ineffectual to call time out. The laws of nature are never so polite to suspend themselves in our behalf. Time waits for no one, so don't stop the music when you lose step. Keep moving, feel the pulse and find the groove. We live under the tyranny of ceaseless forward motion. Neither rhetoric nor revolution can set us free. We are ruled by time until time runs out.
Although psychologically comforting, we can never really take a break. We may stop striving in one direction or another, but the consequences that ensue are unstoppable. The world keeps spinning and revolving as the finitude of the body is demonstrated each and every passing day by the scars of wear and tear. Don't stop the music when you stumble. Stay in motion until there is synchrony and never rest while facing in the wrong direction. Time is disobedient; it will neither yield to our cadence nor hesitate to protract our mistakes.
Life is movement. Even when we stand still the clock reminds us of this. We may choose not to grow, but we will still grow old. With each passing moment we move closer and closer to, or further and further from our goals. So know your dance and don't stop the music when life's uncertainties arise. Do not be intimidated by the syncopated rhythms and changing meters you will occasionally encounter.
Time goes by with inexorable certainty, so live each moment with care and dignity. Non-commitment is an illusion; the passage of time commits us to one thing or another. If we are not dedicated to what is right, we are, by default, dedicated to what is wrong. If we are not consciously invested in our own improvement, we are, at best, unconsciously invested in our own stagnation and descent. So, don't stop the music. Life is a symphony filled with entrances and exits, consonance and dissonance, harmony and cacophony, tension and release. Play on. With each new phrase comes a new challenge and a new opportunity to justify or rectify the phrase that came before. We can choose our own tempo, but we are all governed by the same eternal rhythm.
Don't stop the music and it will, in time, carry you home – today tomorrow or the day after that. Be patient and you will find your stride. Time marches on relentlessly, so use it to your advantage. What we do during its passage will either nurture or destroy us. Remember, it is more exhausting to pause than to proceed. In the former case, we naively and perhaps even foolishly become opponents of intransigent progress. In the latter, we become allies. When we act with enthusiasm, we remain poised for sudden transformation, especially when fortuitous circumstances present themselves. Disinterest and discouragement, on the other hand, allow those rare chances to pass us by.
Keep steering around detours and obstacles, head toward the finish line with absolute determination and leave the rest to the never-ending movement of time. Dance the dance of life and when you fall out of rhythm, just keep moving until you fall back in. And no matter what, when, where, how or why - until the final note of this grand opus fades to silence - don't stop the music!
The Philosophy of Natural Health by ML Houllif, PhD
The philosophy of natural health is not the mission statement of yet another new-age anti-establishment cult, but instead, a set of universal principles describing the eternal forces of nature and how they are best harnessed to support and further our existence. These are the laws of life. We have no say in their governance over us. No one is immune from the steadfast acts of nature. They reach us all, without exception. Knowledge of them, therefore, is prerequisite to health and healing.
First, it is important to understand that the human organism possesses an instinct of self-preservation. Left to its own devices, it naturally strives to repair or normalize itself. This is seen in wound healing. We can expedite this process by manipulating the conditions and circumstances that support the body. As mere attendants, we do not make the body heal. We allow it to heal by subtracting what is wrong and adding what is right. The only true healer is the body itself. The only true attendant is the one who respects that.
Second, we must acknowledge that acute disease is not an entity, but a process that is remedial, reparative and adaptive in nature. Symptoms are compensatory. They represent right action under wrong conditions. Regurgitation, a natural defense mechanism, necessarily follows food poisoning. Here, food poisoning is obviously wrong, and although uncomfortable, vomiting is right and redeeming.
Third, to manage and resolve any health problem, we must identify and remove its causes and then establish conditions of health. Those things consistent with human structure, function and true psychological disposition are generally considered to be health promoting agents, influences and materials. For instance: fresh air; sunlight; clean water; whole, unprocessed foods of our biological adaptation; rest; sleep; exercise; social support; security of life and it’s means; meaningful work and appreciation of beauty.
Pernicious things happen because they can, but nothing is without cause. It is our job to minimize the possibilities by understanding the role we play in setting disease in motion. And, even when more than lifestyle change is required for the restoration of health, aligning with nature’s laws is of first importance. If and when pharmaceutical and/or surgical interventions prove necessary, they should, as a rule, play no more than a supporting role to a rational way of life. They are not, by any means, a substitute for salubrious conduct. Health and disease run along a continuum. They are spontaneous processes conducted by the living organism in response to the conditions imposed upon it and, we, for the most part, do the imposing.
We cannot escape the authority of these laws. When observed, they become our guide to self-preservation. When ignored, they become an unrelenting and
dispassionate reminder of our finitude and their omnipotence. They can build us up or tear us down, depending upon our course of action. Since man is part of nature and nature is governed by eternal and immutable laws, we must run parallel to them. This, in a nutshell, is the philosophy of natural health.
Lifestyle as Medicine by ML Houllif, PhD
The greatest of all “cures” resides within the living organism. The medical world spends enormous resources in time, money, and intellect searching for an external force to do what the body does innately - heal. No doubt, modern medicine plays an important role in the prevention, management and resolution of disease, but it is the body and the supporting environment that are the true co-stars. Perhaps, spontaneous healing, in this day and age, is not high-tech enough to command the respect and attention it so deserves. This is to the detriment of us all. The need for immediate gratification lures us to the pharmacy and away from the tedious process of identifying and removing causes. Swallowing a pill is more convenient and less disruptive than swallowing the truth and changing the way we live. Nonetheless, it is in our daily activities of life that the most elusive answers to our health concerns lie. Headaches are no more due to a lack of aspirin than high cholesterol is due to the lack of a statin drug, or osteoporosis to that of a bisphosphonate. Granted, in some cases, pharmaceutical intervention may be indicated, not as a substitute for healthful living, but, as an adjunct to lifestyle manipulation.
Our health sits on four cornerstones: diet, environment, activity, and psychology. Each of these four, further subsume pieces of life that together define our essential needs. Whether we acknowledge them or not, together they determine our level of health or disease. These natural influences cannot be replaced by the artifacts of the chemist. There is a marked difference between the treatment of disease and the promotion of health. In the former, we manipulate the body to tolerate the environment, oftentimes weakening the immune response. In the latter, we manipulate the environment to support the body, unleashing its self-regulating, restorative and reparative powers.
Very rarely does health or disease deliver its verdict based upon one isolated element. Our sentencing usually follows logically, although not always obviously from the overall quality and quantity of our thoughts and actions. Therefore, so does our pardon. So called cures, like absolution defy reason; they are either illusions, deceptions or wishful thinking. There is only cause and effect. Suppressing, obscuring or excising an effect is not the same as removing a cause. All things set in motion tend to stay there until interrupted. We must give our mortal flesh and blood a chance to persevere. Every cell of the living organism is endowed with an instinct of self-preservation. Become its ally, not its enemy. Unleash the body’s power to heal. Let each action we take be a vote cast in favor of life and understand that everywhere and always under the same earthly conditions, health is the result of healthful living.
It follows that disease is born of a lifestyle inconsistent with life; usually, one that is consistent with social and cultural forces. To achieve health, however, we must align ourselves with natural forces; those eternal, non-negotiable ruling principles of
existence. This is a simple solution that can be artfully challenging, especially for those who find it hard to abandon the crowd. The collective mind is clumsy and lazy, and the more colossal the collective, the more inelegant. Standing alone takes courage; the kind of courage that only the truth can instill. The truth is a mighty force. It not only fortifies our convictions, it destroys false notion’s and assumptions. It becomes obvious why those whose lives rest on fallacy conveniently excuse fact as mere
opinion. Once acknowledged, the truth obligates us to conform. And when we don’t, we act out our lives before an unchanging backdrop of self-betrayal, frustration and embarrassment. Denial becomes our coping mechanism; unconsciousness our palliative.
Logic should make it quite clear that all living organisms depend upon a
specific set of conditions to survive and thrive. A fish out of water suffers a bad
prognosis. A man submerged, likewise. When aberrations are more subtle, however, we tend to normalize and ignore them. Drowning is obvious and easy to understand. Slow, cumulative damage, where cause and effect are separated by perhaps decades of
wrong living is more subtle. Confusing a gradual process with the sudden appearance of an entity leads to the false notion that we can reverse the course of disease by superimposing a single magic bullet. When lifestyle is the cause of illness, lifestyle is the solution. Pharmaceutical and/or surgical intervention may be necessary due to
imminent danger, but, ultimately, it is only lifestyle that can reverse the actual
mechanisms of disease.
Indeed, the business of health overshadows the science of health. Professional sales people pitch much better than scientists. No wonder the general public is pushed and pulled in every direction save the right one. And where there is confusion, there is vulnerability. And, where there is vulnerability, there is gullibility. Quick fixes abound and it seems that we are more willing to spend our dollars on the illusion of health, than we are to operate in the currency of hard work and real evidence. Life is possible because of the inherent boundaries that make it so. There are conditions that support life and others that destroy it. To lament over the fact that life comes with a specific code of action reveals a lack of critical thinking and perhaps a slight departure from reality. We are defined by all that we are and all that we are not. For life to persist, we must acknowledge this line of demarcation. It is the responsibility of the physician to learn, then teach and lead his flock across the divide to that precinct where health and healing prevails.
Because it is in our nature to conserve energy, we are partial to shortcuts. Masking an effect is less demanding than unmasking a cause. This makes today easier and perhaps more satisfying, but tomorrow, harder and more remorseful. In the end, our well-being depends upon our thoughts, actions, habits and character. Here lies our fate. Nothing short of right action can heal the injuries of wrong action. Drugs and surgery each have their proper place in the medical armamentarium, but, the first-line prescription for the prevention management and resolution of disease is, unequivocally, lifestyle as medicine.
The Logical Vegetarian by ML Houllif, PhD
If we are intellectually honest and place reason above emotions, the search for optimal health through superior nutrition will inevitably lead us to a mostly, if not totally, plant-based diet. That inferior nutriment can sustain life is a testament, not to the substandard quality of the material, but instead, to the innate intelligence, wisdom and fierce will of the human organism to endure. That it can glean something of value from the least valuable substances is truly amazing and just as misleading to those who honestly, although naively, advocate an ill-conceived philosophy of health and nutrition. That we can or should subsist on an animal-free, plant-based diet has always been a controversial subject. Emotions combined with antiquated facts, deceptive practices, commercial agendas, and less than scholarly observations and advice, have all culminated in the misconceptions that abound.
Some collide with vegetarianism while reflexively swerving to avoid, what they passionately believe to be, the unnecessary exploitation of animals. Although animal welfare is a noble endeavor, it doesn’t teach us much about, nor is it necessarily a good example of nutritional excellence. Because this group professes to be guided by a moral compass, they are referred to as "ethical vegetarians". I take exception to this accolade, however, when human life is subordinated to animal life. I hold, just as strongly, that animal life should not, unnecessarily or unsympathetically be sacrificed to that of its more evolved guardians’. This set of non-flesh eaters oftentimes presents clinically as anemic, protein deficient, frail and sometimes, to the surprise of the inexperienced clinician, obese.Their maladies are usually blamed upon the fact that they are vegetarians. But the problem does not lie in their abstention from animal products; it lies in their failure to indulge in nutritional excellence. In other words, they are either uninformed or misinformed and as a result, malnourished. Fortunately, with a bit of guidance, they can continue their honorable crusade against animal cruelty while still enjoying optimal health. Unfortunately, this faction has become the stereotype for all vegetarians.
Then, there are those who come to the plant kingdom by way of logic and reason. Theirs is an intellectual endeavor: a stoic investigation of man’s true nutritional needs and how to satisfy them. Here, we are presented with overwhelming evidence that the consumption of animal fare is harmful to human health and best avoided.* Fortuitously, its omission benefits both man and beast.Nonetheless, that sparing the lives of these sentient beings is only an incidental phenomenon, it is no less virtuous than if it was a deliberate enterprise. Respect for animal life begins with respect for human life, as genuine compassion for others can only exist where it is preceded by rational and shameless self-interest
Most skeptics of an all plant-based diet are so because of the many myths that still are persisting in spite of their erroneous assumptions and outmoded arguments. As long as one consumes a variety of unprocessed plant foods, in amounts adequate to support normal structure and function, they will be gaining a plethora of micro and macronutrients. The real challenge is not how to get enough from a plant-based diet to achieve health, but instead, how not to get enough of an animal-based diet to cause disease.
Since we are a protein-obsessed society, our first compulsion is to question the adequacy of a plant regimen to provide enough, if any-at-all, of this macronutrient. This collective paranoia is born of the popular misconception that protein is synonymous with flesh. If we allow the intellect to rule for just one moment, we will undoubtedly see the folly of this supposition. Where does the animal, that we believe we must consume for our protein, get its protein? The plant kingdom! It is abundantly available to humans as well, without the dangers of overconsumption or the need to esoterically combine different food sources to accomplish optimal health. The amino acid pool, a twenty-four-seven circulating bank of protein components, allows the body to make all the different proteins it may need, when it needs them. All we have to do is make deposits by way of eating a variety of whole plant foods - and mind you - not in any specific assemblage.
Another unnecessary concern and highly emotional issue revolves around the subject of calcium. Once again, we have been misled; this time, to believe that calcium, to the exclusion of all else, equals dairy and therefore we are solely dependent upon the hormonal secretions of another species to meet our needs. How absurd! Calcium is ubiquitous and easily obtained from dark-green leafy vegetables, cooked dried beans, soy products, nuts, seeds and dried fruits. Human babies should drink the milk of their mothers, just as calves should drink the milk of theirs. It only stands to reason that each species is equipped by nature to best meet the specific needs of their offspring. It is at our own peril that we ignore the overpowering arguments levied against the bizarre, unnatural and uniquely human practice of consuming the milk of another kind.
There also seems to be much apprehension about the plant-eater’s ability to procure enough iron, especially made apparent when along with the physician’s rebuke comes a prescription for red meat. Rest assured, iron is widely distributed in the plant kingdom, always to be found in whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, many vegetables and dried fruits. Its absorption can be enhanced by simultaneously adding a good source of vitamin C. It should be noted that the accumulation of too much iron is undesirable because it potentially raises the risk of cancer and heart disease. Since the body is unable to eliminate excessive amounts of this mineral, it maintains balance by regulating its absorption. Interestingly, this regulatory mechanism governs most effectively when taking up the nonheme iron of plants, rather than the heme iron of animals, which tends to accumulate inordinately.
There does exist a legitimate concern about B12. A deficiency of this essential nutrient can lead to numerous health problems, both neurological and cardiovascular. Animal products are no doubt a rich source of it. When we eliminate them, we reduce our exposure to B12. It is important to note that only bacteria can produce B12 and therefore, due to modern hygienic standards, it has become nearly impossible to obtain enough from plants.Although it can take quite a while to deplete our stores of B12, we should check our levels from time to time, and or use a methylcobalamin supplement to eliminate this concern completely. Although less desirable than whole foods, some of the more processed plant-based foods are oftentimes fortified with this micronutrient. Intriguingly, there are far more meat eaters who are B12 deficient than vegetarians. This, however, has less to do with availability and more to do with eroding physical function, ironically, oftentimes due to the consumption of too much flesh.
Vitamin D, which is actually a hormone, should also be checked periodically. According to current research and laboratory findings, vitamin D deficiency appears to be epidemic, especially in the northern hemisphere. This goes for both meat and meatless eaters. Investigation points to many potential problems that can arise from a deficiency of this nutrient, including: osteoporosis, immune suppression, chronic pain and some cancers. Although regular sun exposure insures that we will have optimum vitamin D levels, too much sunshine may lead to premature aging of the skin as well as skin cancer. If our levels are less than optimal, a vitamin D supplement should be considered.
When we objectively weigh the risks of eating animal products against the benefits of eating a plant-rich diet, it becomes quite evident that plants give us the best chance of achieving optimal health by generously meeting all our nutritional needs and enhancing, rather than disrupting normal biological processes. Many have been discouraged by the distorted impressions coming from the camps of the misguided and inexperienced, or for that matter, from their own fledgling philosophies of the “good life”.If one is genuinely interested in their health and well-being and is willing to replace fiction with fact and feeling with knowing, absolutely nothing rational should dissuade them from becoming a “logical vegetarian”.
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* It is not in the scope of this discussion to enumerate the many deleterious effects of consuming an animal-based diet, nor to tout the salubrious effects of eating primarily of vegetation, but instead, to dispel the myths that persist when it comes to consuming a plant-based diet. I leave it to the interested reader to delve further into the subject. The literature is abundant and easy to access.
Addiction, Character, Purpose and Meaning by ML Houllif, PhD
All addictions share the same neurophysiological cycle of stimulation,
depression, tolerance and withdrawal. I don't question whether or not this
cycle, in earnest, exists, but rather, why it exists, whether or not it can be
broken, and if so, by what means.
Addiction is the habituation to any practice that is harmful. When we
resort to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, chocolate, or overeating (even of
healthy foods) for the purpose of mood alteration - we enter the realm of
addiction. The first stage of addiction - stimulation - comes as an illusion. It
does not produce, what we perceive to be, an extreme state of well-being or an
increase in vitality. To the contrary, it weakens the body by rapidly and
forcefully discharging its energy reserves, leaving us depleted and in the
second stage of addiction - depression. Here, the body attempts to recuperate
the power it lost. This depressed state leads the addict back to the stimulating
substance in search of euphoria. He now finds himself in the third stage of
addiction - tolerance. Due to the body's exhausted state, it lacks the power to
respond to the usual dose of stimulant, be it heroin, hamburger or Haagen
Dazs. The addict is now forced to increase the dose of his pet poison, along
with the frequency of its use, in order to achieve the usual high. But as the
dose grows, there is less primary effect (stimulation), and more secondary
effect (depression). At times the higher dose, tragically, becomes incompatible
with life. When the user attempts to discontinue the substance in question, he
experiences the fourth stage of addiction - withdrawal. Here, the discomfort
manifests with much greater intensity as the body desperately struggles to
eliminate the toxicant and regenerate its life force. If the addict is unable to
endure this healing crisis and suppresses it with old habits, the viscous cycle
continues. To end the addiction, the cycle must be broken by totally abstaining
from the harmful agent. Armed with the same knowledge, guidance and
support, some succeed in accomplishing this while others fail. Why?
That there is an addictive personality per se, has long been considered,
but without any universally agreed upon conclusion. It appears that both nature
and nurture play a roll. That the brain chemistry of an addict is different from
that of a non-addict has been recognized, but so has the plasticity of the brain,
so is this a cause or an effect? And do we become addicted to specific
substances and behaviors, or to the chemicals the brain releases in response
to them? And how do we account for those individuals who spontaneously
recover without any extraneous intervention?
Man's survival is dependent upon his body and his mind - his muscles
and his character. He not only has to do the heavy physical lifting to provide
himself with food, clothing and shelter; he must also do the metaphysical lifting,
so he may acquire a set of values that will provide him with a life that is worth
living. This set of values is his code of behavior, his guide to action, his
morality. And for what purpose does he need morality? So, when presented
with a choice between life and death, he will choose life. And, when presented
with a choice between A and B, he will choose what is right, rather than what is
easy. And when given the choice of being a sacrificial animal or a rational
being, he will proudly choose the latter. Where there is an absence of values,
there is an absence of purpose and meaning. We are left with a metaphysical
vacuum that we erroneously attempt to fill with physical things, such as drugs,
alcohol, food or wanton behavior. But having no physical dimensions, this hole
cannot be filled using these materials and methods. Only self-directed purpose
and meaning can heal this spiritual wound.
Man builds his character by learning to subordinate his emotions to his
intellect. He triumphs because he has a central purpose that integrates and
organizes every single action he takes by creating a hierarchy of values that is
consistent with his aspirations. He achieves his goals because, no matter what,
he lives by a well-ordered value system, not by the random twitches of his
nervous system. He honors life in general, and his own life above all else. He
exists at no one else's expense and allows no one to exist at his. He doesn't
look to others or settle for his inferiors to fill an emptiness. He gravitates
towards his equals, so together they may share in, and add to each other's
fullness.
So, is it a character flaw that makes us more susceptible to addiction, or
the accidental burden of some inherent neurological flaw? Do we abstain from
habituating substances and behaviors, or do we indulge in wholesome
practices, crowding out ruinous conduct? Do we blame or credit our doings on
or to the circumstances that befall us, or the attitude with which we confront
those circumstances? All possibilities seem plausible and are worthy
of consideration. Life is precarious. Oftentimes, hardship comes uninvited as
does luck. How we deal with either depends upon our readiness. If we are
grounded in purpose, meaning and values, we will react quite differently than if
we are not. A rudderless boat is at the mercy of the wind. But with purpose, we
are able to navigate our way, in spite of opposing forces, and nonetheless
reach our destination. It takes character, however, to sail into the wind, rather
than change course or abandon ship.
Since man has an inherent need, and therefore, is always searching for
meaning - both consciously and unconsciously - susceptibility to and recovery
from addiction is subordinate to the fulfillment of this requirement. Whereas
susceptibility rises and falls in inverse proportion to the degree that we are
purposeful, recovery follows in direct proportion. When preoccupied with
meaningful work, we are less disposed to compulsion. Irrational impulses win
only by default. Even if genetically predisposed to addiction, we can escape
that fate by immersing our genes in an environment that will not enable their
expression. We can't change our genes, but we can change the environment
that interacts with them. The former is imposed upon us, while the latter, for the
most part, is voluntary and therefore, best guided by a value system that holds
life supreme.
With determination, victory over addiction is attainable, but takes more
than muscular self-control to be sustainable. We can restrain our impulses for
only so long before we necessarily tire and lose our resolve. And even if we
succeed in breaking the physical chains, we must still address the
psycho/emotional component of the problem. Where a philosophical void
remains, so does the chance for relapse. One's willpower cannot replace one's
values. Willpower may exert temporary control over our desires, but it cannot
extinguish them. Values, on the other hand, redirect our desires to advance
our cause rather than frustrate it.
Breaking the addiction cycle can be quite difficult. The most efficacious
tool one can employ in their recovery is 'the reason why'. Where there is a
powerful why, there is a powerful how. The why must be strong enough to
withstand the test of temptation. The ends must justify the means. The reward
must justify the effort. The why must justify the how. What makes one man,
when suffering, search for meaning and another for palliation? Why does one
man consider the future and another only the moment? Character, I say - a
man's moral essence - what he has become, based upon the values he has
chosen to live by. A man filled with pride and honor and directed by purpose
and meaning leaves no room for the intrusion of inferior substitutes, whether
they come in the form of drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, or cake. And don't be
fooled by those substances and behaviors that are socially sanctioned. They
can be as or even more destructive than those we collectively frown upon due
to their availability and the blessings they receive from the crowd.
Addiction is real and so is recovery. White-knuckling-abstinence,
however, can take us only so far before we, once again, find ourselves on that
slippery slope. We require diligent purposefulness, guided by a value system
that honors life. Meaning is powerful. When we find it, it has a cataclysmic
effect. In one violent upheaval, emotions and impulses are replaced by logic
and reason. Scattered feelings and dispersed energy become well focused and
thoughtfully directed. The human body's ability to heal is inherent and takes
place spontaneously. The human capacity to think is also constitutional, but by
contrast, is purely volitional. Some of us choose to think; some of us do not.
To think is our ultimate tool of survival. But is it in everyone's reach? I can't say.
Though where it lacks, I can say with certainty that we suffer. We fall prey to
ersatz ideas, campaigns and ventures. We become easily enslaved by
transient sensations. We become candidates for dependency. We can do our
best to abstain, thereby giving the body a chance to heal and regain
physiological equanimity, but this will only bring temporary freedom. Because it
is a metaphysical deficiency that has left us barren - turning us into automatons
by reducing us to mere clumps of flesh, blood, bones and nerves - it is this
vacancy that must be filled. It is here that we triumph. It is here that we beat the
unbeatable. It is here that we, at last and forever, replace addiction with
character, purpose and meaning.