Progress and Failure

Progress and failure are a necessary part of the freedom from addiction journey. Once we truly decide that this is the most important thing in our lives, the biggest roadblock to our freedom will be removed.

Taking action is easy. Sticking to a plan is hard. Many people start with a list of the things they want to work on and mark off their progress on a daily calendar. They cultivate a serious intention about this project and watch themselves as they make some successful efforts and initial failures. For them, however, the underlying principle remains the same all along the way.

Maintaining their devotion to a new set of behaviors and continually practicing self-observation are the keys. Whether we feel we are being successful or we are failing, we continue to observe ourselves and learn what makes us tick. We look closely at our emotions and the way they control our behavior. This self-observation is the energy that eventually begins to erode the negative hold that our addiction and our ego have upon us. At first it takes a lot of effort but eventually we start to lose those old feelings of depression or fear and they are replaced with a more peaceful equanimity in our lives. It isn’t just luck or accident that makes some people more peaceful and happy. It is the result of long periods of spiritual work that help them to develop a happier life.

The bottom line is that if you truly want to be free, nothing will be able to stop you. Clarity of intention is the foundation of the spiritual life, and it states that your desire for freedom, your impulse to evolve, has to become more important to you than anything else in this world. Wanting to be free more than anything else is not a feeling; it’s an action. -Andrew Cohen