“What is man’s chief enemy? Each man is his own.” --Anacharsis

Many addicts and alcoholics are victims of abuse.  I certainly don’t want to minimize that.  Recognizing that many of us have suffered at the hands of another, there is still truth to take away from Anacharsis’ quotation.  While he was referring generally to human beings, the sentiment, I think, applies directly to addicts and alcoholics because we have a unique ability to self-sabotage.

Let’s first consider access.  Consider your greatest enemy, if you have one?  How much time do you spend in that person’s company?  An hour a year?  An hour a day?  Eight hours a day?  That’s quaint compared to the access you have to yourself.  24/7.  Wherever you go, there you are.

Let’s next consider influence.  Who do you tend to listen to?  Do you listen to the opinions of others, or yourself?  We addicts tend to think we know better than anyone else what we can and can’t do.  

Now let’s consider wellness.  The quality of your thinking in active addiction is poor, to put it mildly.  Now consider that we will combine this diseased thinking, make it the loudest voice you're hearing, and make you a captive audience to it 24 hours a day.  That loud, unrelenting, sick voice, possessed by your addiction has you.

What is the result of this trifecta?  Our minds convince our body to voluntarily consume poison.  We get sicker.  We feel worse.  The thinking becomes more diseased.  The healthy part of the mind, your reason and will, weakens.  The addiction takes over.  What enemy could be more powerful and possessing than this?

And what is the result of losing our reason and will to this monster?  We ultimately lose everything.  Our entire support structures.  Everything good that might offer a reason to live—a reason to change, gets put on the back burner.

Does your worst enemy have the power to take away your kids?  

Does your worst enemy have the power to take away our freedom?

Does your worst enemy have the power to convince your spouse to leave you?

Does your worst enemy have the power to destroy your health?

Does your worst enemy have the power to get you fired from your job?

The worst enemy in your life likely has nowhere near the ability to destroy your life quite the way you do.  People who aren’t addicts or alcoholics can self-destruct, sure.  But, how often do you see that?  If you have spent any amount of time around alcoholics, you likely know many who have lost everything and that it occurred in a series of disasters related to addiction and alcoholism.

Okay, enough of the negative.  I want to bring relentless positivity to your sobriety, so let’s consider the converse of the quote.  Does it not stand to reason we can be our greatest ally too?

We know already we have more time and intimate access to ourselves than anyone else.  We can improve the quality of our thinking through sobriety, contemplation, and right action.  So, if we allow our thoughts to become virtuous and reasonable, we can preserve our freedom, families, and careers.  We can live fulfilling lives in joyous sobriety.  We don’t have to be slaves to diseased and negative thinking.  We don’t have to heed our base impulses to self-destruct and annihilate our bodies and souls.  We can live in happiness, gratitude, and service to others.  Dear Reader, those are the choices.  Choose wisely.