We’re All Addicts (Part 1)
Addiction is a word most people reserve for drugs, alcohol, gambling, or sex. But the truth is, we are all addicts. Addiction is not about the substance itself. It is about attachment, habit, and the body and mind learning to rely on something for comfort or stability. From the moment we are born, we are trained to be addicted. To people, usually family first. To routines. To habits. To foods. To experiences.
Even when we do not call it addiction, the pattern is the same. If we are used to something and we try to stop or lose access to it, withdrawal follows. It is unavoidable. The symptom may look different depending on what it is. A craving. Agitation. Emotional pain. Physical discomfort. But the principle is universal.
Food is an easy example. Red meat, sugar, coffee, bacon, shrimp. I have experienced this myself. When I stopped eating red meat at twenty, I remember walking past the cold meat section at the grocery store about two weeks later and feeling my salivary glands go wild, tingling like a foot that had fallen asleep. I was in withdrawal. That lasted longer than I expected.
When I gave up processed sugar, a couple of weeks in I had the worst headache of my life. It was no different from the headaches a friend of mine experienced when he quit coffee. The body does not negotiate. It reacts.
These examples are manageable and obvious. But the same pattern shows up in relationships, jobs, hobbies, and routines. The addiction is harder to name and easier to justify. When someone leaves you, by choice or by chance, the withdrawal can feel intense. Grieving is the word most people use for this process. But grieving is not inherently about letting go. Withdrawal is. Withdrawal is temporary. Grief can last indefinitely if we let it.
The good news is that withdrawal always ends. Pain diminishes. Habits fade. We survive. Once we do, we are free to choose what we want without the invisible chains of reliance on something that no longer serves us.
We are all addicts. Recognize it. Respect the process. And understand that what we are attached to is not fixed, even when it feels permanent.