From choice to a monster

The topic of addiction is a very controversial one. While some people see it as a sin that stems from one's choice, others see it as a disease. While some view it as something simple that can easily be waved off in someone's life, the people who have battled with it—or are still battling with it—see it as a more difficult task to do away with than even making heaven.

Where do I stand?

I see addiction as an act that grew from one's choice and later developed into a monster in the person's life.

Yeah, it starts from a choice—someone willing to give it a shot either by temptation or just a mere willingness to adopt the habit. People who are addicted to smoking didn’t come into this world with the addiction in them; they first decided to taste smoking, and they loved it the first time. They gave it a second shot, and it tasted even better than the first, and it slowly became a part of them.

I have a female friend who takes alcohol to calm herself down when she's emotionally down. Whenever she’s emotionally low, alcohol becomes her go-to act. We were very close, and she didn’t hide it whenever she wanted to start rolling out the sachets of alcohol in her drawer. According to her, she took up the lifestyle when she was in the university. The troubles from her family, especially her sick mom, were heavily weighing on her, and she was introduced to alcohol; she found solace in it. But hey, she gets drunk most times too, but the good thing is that she takes all the alcohol in her house so all her reactions—such as puking—will be within her home, and whenever her eyes clear, she’ll clean up her room.

It grows into a monster:

There are a lot of bad addictions out there, and they're really destructive in eating into someone's life. You’ve heard of masturbation, betting, smoking, and drinking, right? The people doing these things usually don’t want to continue the habit, but the habit has become a monster in their life, comfortably living in them and bowing its head whenever the body tries to escape from it.

Gamblers know they’re losing so much in the gambling they do, and though they want to stop, the force behind it is so strong that it won’t let them go. People who drink alcohol know how it deals with them after the temporary pleasure it brings—pleasure that they always regret—but they still find it so hard to let go. The same thing applies to people who are into masturbation addiction. There’s always a regret accompanying the satisfaction that addiction brings, but the monster force of addiction wouldn’t let go.

How to stop addiction: To stop masturbation, the first and biggest practical step is to revisit how it started—and that is the decision of choice. Stopping any form of addiction has to begin with a strong will of choice. That decision must not just be a mere decision; it must be rooted and accompanied by the whole body taking practical steps toward abstaining from the act.

People usually say God should be put first before the act of choice, but I don’t see it that way. God, most times, allows us to use the brain and mind He gave us to dictate our lives.

Thanks for reading.

This is my entry to Week 192, Edition 03 of the Weekly Featured contest in Hive Learners Community

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