It was suggested I start writing something, anything, here daily. I’ve chosen this topic because, lately, I’ve been feeling like this thankless work I do is tearing me down. I work with addicts, mostly heroin addicts. I help them find their way out of their near hopeless situation. I’m good at it too! It’s like being a guide for someone lost in a forest of despair.

See, it’s like this. People struggling with an addiction have basically lost their autonomy. In other words, they have compromised their ability to govern their own decision making process. Decisions are primarily governed by their passion for getting high. Thoughts are enslaved by an insatiable need to feed their addiction.

Well, to rejuvenate autonomy, back to healthy levels, I start by helping individuals build confidence in their ability to make healthy decisions. Next I encourage them to own the decisions they make. Once they get to this level, they decide that they finally figured out how to leave the forest of their despair.

So, their belief becomes one where the guide wasn’t really all that helpful, cause they finally figured it out for themselves.