“TEMPTATION IS A BITCH”

Photo Credit: Davood Madadpoor

Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, wrote in Time Magazine: Temptation is a bitch. All my life, I’ve gone through periods of horrific anxiety…that squeezes my brain in an icy grip…a bottomless pit of fear. Ouch. Man, drugs fixed all that in a flash. Once you’ve opened the door to drug use, it’s always there, seducing you. Perfectly sane people become addicted and end up dead.

My reflection: Drug overdoses kill more than 64,000 people each year and are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50. The latest research from the Center for Disease Control estimates that overdoses will increase by 30% in 2017. These dire statistics point to the high price of succumbing to temptation for addicts.

Today’s Promise to consider: Temptation is everywhere – whether it’s sweets, extra sleep, shopping, or narcotics. Recovering addicts have worked hard to distance themselves from the deadly seduction of drugs. Today, I’ll reach out my hand with compassion to all those who are fighting the ravaging temptation of drugs in order to survive another day.

 

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Pat Nichols
6 years ago

Everything in our lives improves once we, as parents, communicate our understanding of our child’s disease through acts of love and compassion while still maintaining appropriate boundaries. How do we do that? It’s not simple or is it easy but it is possible. In fact, it is really hard work. There is an incredible recovery community available to all parents of addicted children. Reach out and investigate ALL the opportunities!!

libbycataldi
libbycataldi
6 years ago
Reply to  Pat Nichols

Pat, So true – it’s not easy to deal with addiction with love, compassion, and boundaries – but SO important. A recovery community is essential – for them and for us. Al-Anon and other parent support groups are bastions of safety and knowledge. My Al-Anon group saved my sanity and gave me hope. Thanks for staying close.

Sue
Sue
6 years ago

As you say Libby, temptation is all around us. it seems silly but most days after work I crave junk food in the worst way. Many days I succumb and eat some chips, usually swearing to myself “just one more” only to feel so annoyed with myself after. If that desire for a bag of chips is so tough for me I can’t even imagine how hard it is for an addict to resist the temptation of their drug of choice. Their “just one more” has such immediate and dire consequences.
I just think its important to realize we all struggle with things in our lives that drive us to do stuff we may regret, I don’t think the addict is any different. My daughter who now has 2 and a half years clean recently told me she is so afraid of relapsing at five, seven, ten years down the road because she has seen friends who appeared strong and well into recovery relapse.
That’s a hard reality for the addict and their loved ones as well. As a society if we can be compassionate with ourselves when we give in to our vices we can be compassionate with those who struggle with drugs as well.