The Pursuit Of Happiness In Battling Addiction
by Anil Gupta
Anil Gupta, best-selling author of “Immediate Happiness,” offers his ever-growing audience the chance to find fulfillment in life by coaching them through their adversities. Leading his listeners down a path of eventual awareness and clarity in their lives, his words bring new meaning to the notion of living in ultimate happiness.
Impactful words of wisdom accrued through years of learning to help himself, and subsequently, others allowed for Anil Gupta to give me a wealth of information on attaining happiness in life. His methodology in guiding others to open their eyes to the ways of “immediate happiness” can, quite effortlessly, be applied to all that we do in helping a struggling drug abuser seek recovery.
So, how do we achieve happiness and how can this newly-found joy assist in the rehabilitation of an addicted individual?
Addiction, From Awareness To Happiness
The foundation for what Anil Gupta teaches his admiring listeners is built upon the general, yet evolving idea of seeking and adhering to a level of awareness that will eventually bring about happiness in one’s life. One’s life in its entirety is unable to be fully experienced without this uninterrupted awareness. In being aware of the life before us and having perception of all that it holds, we can proceed with the adequate changes to secure a life of true happiness.
In the world of addiction, seeking and actually acquiring happiness seems less than simple, if in fact, impossible to many an addicted user. Furthermore, setting out to divorce oneself from the unhinged lifestyle of substance use and actively navigating away from addiction by being hyper-aware of one’s every move sounds like something derived from an ideal dream.
Drug and alcohol addiction of any kind foremostly attacks and commandeers a user’s ability to be aware of the world as it stands around him. How would he then, with addiction in full swing, pull himself out of the nightmarish depths and be aware enough of himself to find solid ground and proceed forward toward the goal of happiness in a life of recovery?
The Pursuit Of Happiness While Addicted
Anil stresses that in order to find awareness, we have to dissect what someone may be feeling at these points of despair in life. In this case we speak about addiction and, like in every other part of life, we can view addiction’s beginning as the pursuit of a feeling. The user seeks the drug for the purpose of feeling something and that something is, it can be assumed, positive in nature. We can generalize it by calling it happiness, though it comes in the form of a “high” with drug or alcohol use.
In seeking happiness, the person abusing substances is utilizing a negative action to achieve an assumed positive result. But that result is usually a falsehood and disguises what should be achieved through different means. Those around the struggling individual, who recognize this false sense of fulfillment, usually hope to see a change in their detrimental behaviors. That change often seems far from reach when one is at the mercy of addiction.
For change to actually occur, the addicted individual would have to come to the awareness of his faltering action and replace the action with a better means to seek the same result. The “high” would therefore be attained through any better and interchangeable action.
Anil makes note of the changes in his life as he was able to finally see and grasp them. He tells of his battles with depression and thoughts of suicide. Though it was easy to be driven by these thoughts and negative mental strangleholds, his awareness and the happiness it brought about in his life led him out of the dark.
In this same vein of thought, an addicted individual, struggling with the mental, emotional, and even physical reins of addiction may yet be able to lead himself to his own victory. Being ready to approach awareness and open the mind to the possibility of overcoming addiction is a wonderful first step toward this goal.
Awareness
With the mind open and a goal set, the user striving for sobriety may work with the following as a derivative of Anil’s steps toward awareness (“Immediate Happiness: Be Happy NOW Using Practical Steps with Immediate Proven Results”):
- Step One: “Begin by watching yourself”
Be watching your actions as they pertain to addictive behaviors. Look at each action and make note of its effect on your life. Keep a log of these actions, the behaviors that lead to negative consequences, your addiction’s hold on life through your own choices. Watch yourself and your every move. - Step Two: “Start watching other people”
Observe the world around you and take heed of its progress. Recognize your lack of connection to much of what doesn’t apply to your life and your addiction. You will soon be able to feel the positive disconnect in knowing that you are not at the mercy of the world’s existence. Your inaction and ability to be aware and remain unaffected means that you CAN succeed in recovery through happiness.
In Anil’s words, we are never given a manual on how humans behave. Being able to grasp, be mindful of, and continue to thwart our own negative behaviors—especially during the course of physical drug dependence—WILL be difficult. But that is why overcoming addiction is a healing process. In any rehabilitative program, no addicted individual sets out toward sobriety with an obstacle-free path before him.
“You cannot be successful, in love, joyful, in bliss without awareness. [It] is fundamental to life,” Anil told me. Awareness can be had in addiction recovery when a dependent user subscribes to the idea of happiness being acquirable. If it is possible and can free him from the burden of drug addiction through the success of change, then awareness is the only key the aspiring ascetic really needs.
Once awareness is fully realized and harnessed, the haze of addiction and of life’s struggles will begin to lift and clarity will be on the horizon.
Clarity
“Clarity is power” -Anil Gupta
Thinking clearly about one’s life and working toward happiness from this point can be had through what Anil Gupta says is like the development of a muscle. Flexing this muscle over time and enhancing it through awareness of one’s life will lead to the clarity that is essential in beginning a life of ultimate happiness.
With sobriety on the forefront, clarity of mind is imperative. Thinking clearly about one’s life and admiring reality is a good way in which to begin on the next leg of the recovery path. So how is it that one may come to clearly realize his life through this well-honed awareness and breach the borders of happiness?
One such avenue would be to change the definition of success and set a different standard in acquiring new expectations. This is not to say that the overall goal of being happy in a life free from the chains of addiction must be sidelined or altered. Rather, happiness through sobriety can be simplified with better, more attainable objectives.
Through new standards and remastered aspirations, the formerly paralyzed drug abuser will come to empower himself. Clarity of change brings about power over one’s life and preconceived goals. In fact, inspiration for setting new goals, finding fresh and enlivening routes toward happiness often comes along with this newfound sense of clarity.
Along this line of sight, one who strives to break free from substance abuse will find himself forming exciting pathways that will further support his sober, healthy life. Career paths, financial security, relationship healing, and future plans will have a foundation on which to thrive as recovery comes into sharper focus.
Happiness
As every brick lay before us in its rightful place, with awareness and clarity nestled sturdily beside one another, happiness in all its eloquence, is nearly tangible.
Just like the seemingly elusive journey that recovery becomes, attaining happiness is a well-traveled journey for those who set forth on Anil’s guided path. Though it may be an ongoing process, keeping up with the many aspects of awareness and clarity will ensure that those seeking sobriety are traveling toward an end to their means.
With happiness emerging in life, one can begin to focus on the maintenance of his journey and keep the path sturdy beneath his feet. Of the many ways in which happiness is kept alive and present in the mind, Anil mentions some that can be most advantageous when applied to the specifics of addiction treatment.
The happiness formula: H = G cubed (Give x Gratitude x Grow)
Communication through loving discourse can improve one’s quality of life. With words of meaning chosen with care, those who have struggled and perhaps broken bridges during active addiction will be ready to rebuild and repair as everyone affected heals together. Being mindful through awareness allows for communication strategies to be applied in many relationships. As healing commences, the level of consideration taken in choosing one’s words will greatly contribute to happiness for all while regaining trust and love.
Letting go of former pain—yet not denying its existence—will free the once-struggling addict from the burdens of what cannot be changed. “Resentment is allowing someone to have power over your life without a remote control,” says Anil. This control may not just belong to someone, but can also be applied to that of something, such as addiction. It is empowering, therefore, to let go of the past and the resentment you’ve built that is, in essence, addiction’s weapon against you. Working toward new futures and healthy outlooks without the weight of failures, damages, and confusion will keep recovery in check.
Fulfillment roots itself in one’s life when a sense of completion has been attained. In working through the steps toward happiness—seeking awareness and finding clarity along the way—someone who once struggled through life by attempting to fill the voids with drug use will now see what fulfillment should have been all along. Keeping the journey strong and continuing to maintain the completion and happiness in life can make all the difference in addiction recovery.
Three key routes to fulfillment:
- Seek growth: Through the many obstacles of addiction and subsequent recovery, acknowledging the ways in which addiction affected life and valuing the many changes you’ve made is imperative. These changes touch every aspect of your life, emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical.
- Be giving:Provide what you can to others is maintaining sobriety by helping them through love, positive energy, compassion, and service. Helping others continues to allow you to help yourself, which pulls you back to your prominent state of happiness in recovery.
- Have gratitude: Be thankful for all that has transpired in your life, for those who’ve come and gone, and for what you’ve left behind you as well as what will come. Appreciating the solid path you’ll travel on for the rest of your days keeps you rooted to the joys of being sober.
Strength In Recovery
Seeking out and grasping sobriety may not be as difficult as many have come to believe. Anil Gupta has lit the path for those who need to see better in the darkness of life. Even the blindest of struggling users will be able to visualize the future of recovery while working toward a life of happiness.
For help and information on your journey, Anil Gupta’s book, “Immediate Happiness: Be Happy NOW Using Practical Steps with Immediate Proven Results” can be found on his website, ImmediateHappiness.com
Click above to purchase “Immediate Happiness” by Anil Gupta on Amazon
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