ADDICTIONS | OUR FEATURED TOPIC Freedom from Addiction by Jill Swanson I embrace and accept this opportunity to remind you that peace and freedom are available in this Now moment. Without trying. Without doing anything. We are pure consciousness. Addiction is a device of the egoic mind to keep us believing that we are our bodies and to keep us playing small and unempowered. It is a story we tell ourselves to keep from waking to the Truth of our true nature, that we are powerful beyond measure. I am no different than you; we have a million stories. I have driven myself to near madness in search of enlightenment. I have caused myself great and needless suffering trying to numb the pain of this self inflicted dis-ease. I would call this search and these vices my addictions. Though they are TV and chocolat, I have been an addict in the truest sense of the word. Addiction is a strategy of avoidance and denial of realizing the true nature of Who We Are. It is a violence we perpetrate against ourselves when we feel unworthy, unhappy, stupid, fearful, etc. In the denial, we then engage the technique of either indulgence or repression. These are avoidances of simply experiencing the power and the immensity of the Now moment. When we do this to ourselves, we do it to all. This is the energy we vibrate in the world and contribute to the mass consciousness. It is the energy of fear and by giving power to indulgence or repression, we are empowering this fear. Better to stop and directly experience the emotion or feeling in the Now moment, to meet it in the loving space of self-inquiry. To simply be willing to experience it, meet it, be with it, dissipates its power over us, the power we gave it. As an example, I experience overwhelming sadness for no apparent reason. Perhaps it is something I carry at the cellular level from millions of years of past lives, perhaps it is a Soul agreement I made to experience the sadness of the world during this time of transition of the new earth, perhaps it is both. So I just sit and breathe and experience this sadness. I breathe the Miracle Breath to center myself in the Now moment and experience the sadness without thinking about it, without judging it, without needing to know why. Just being willing to experience it will drain it of power until it passes. Each time it or another emotion or feeling presents itself, it is a golden opportunity for us to know that we are not that emotion or feeling and to experience the underlying peace and freedom of knowing our True Self. It is not weakness on our part that it recurs, it is All That Is trying to get our attention to know itself. It cannot be hidden from or escaped. So why try? It will continue to call on you until you meet it. Simply meet it. The release of experiencing it is weight being lifted off. Only peace and freedom remain. I wish this for you and would love to assist you in experiencing That. Namasté. Jill Swanson lives in service to the Truth. She is the next wave of teacher. In this form, she is an ordained Minister of Spiritual Counseling, member of CIWZC and Miracle Breath practitioner. It is her sole/Soul purpose to assist you in your Self Realization of BEING PRESENT NOW - Fully Living Your Purpose and may be reached in Spirit or at (651) 481-8809 for an appointment or Life Celebration Ceremony. Copyright © 2001 Jill Swanson SEPT 2001