The one major secret in life is balance. For everything we do and choice we make our life requires balance to attain “real” enlightenment. In regards to spirituality and vices we each have a decision to make. Drugs and alcohol are choices we have in life. Many choose to do them and nothing is wrong with that. But the responsibility that follows the choice is often overlooked. Our choices gauge our future. If we live in the moment and only connect with the immediate now then we have the ability to get lost. Lost in the unrealistic bliss of something completely unnatural. Just because something feels good now doesn’t mean that it is the answer to our problems. Our future deserves planning and responsible choices.

            Spirituality is a feeling of bliss when truly attained; it is “pure” enlightenment. If we were able to live in “pure” enlightenment at all times life would be amazing. There is a sense of reality that comes crashing in when a true understanding of what spirituality means in a real world. The way we deal with the two is a testament to our personality. How we choose to deal with people and our emotions in different situations is the test. We are human and will have disagreements due to difference in opinion and perspective. Learning to face these situations with a loving heart yet a true sense of expression can be difficult. You can’t make people listen or live the way you choose to live. Everyone has his or her own battles. When spirituality meets reality…

            There are times in life that you have to stand up for yourself and get your point across. Hopefully these situations don’t happen too frequently but being prepared for when they do is pertinent. I’m still at practice. Living from love and having compassion yet being stern about your business and possible difference in opinion can seem to be a struggle. This world will sway you and take advantage of you if you choose to live in the clouds. Listen to your heart and act accordingly. The work at being grounded and having clear intentions is our guidance. Our spiritual practice is what gives us these tools. Using these tools and getting your point across to people that don’t always want to listen proves to be tough. There will be times in life that you “have” to stand up for yourself. In small disagreements with friends or family, practice how you want to handle yourself in the real world so you have a sense of understanding. Having compassion in the heat of a passionate debate takes much work. You need to explore your inner self to understand what anger, fear, and pain triggers in you. Your choice in dealing with people will affect your journey and where it leads. Blow-ups, yelling, and acting like a child will work in immediate moments at times, but will not help you in attaining a future. It’s like a child stomping there feet for candy. Their mother may give in from time to time but in the real world the people around you will simply choose to not deal with you at all. You cut the legs off of your potential in life. Karma in your current situation will always catch up to you. Don’t ever forget that.

            We are bound to slip and do or say things we don’t mean or wouldn’t normally choose to say. The guilt can follow you for a long period of time afterwards. But I’ve learned that guilt is the lowest resonating feeling there is before sadness or fear. This means we must do the work to acknowledge, surrender to the thought and guilt that follows then release it to the Universe. The longer you wait to acknowledge this and transition your mind away from it, the more negative effects it will have on you. Just because we aren’t the people we want to be all the time doesn’t mean we should continue to punish ourselves. We forgive ourselves, send love to the situation and take the lesson. Later we can use the knowledge in the next situation. Life is a series of these kinds of cycles. Reverting back to the spiritual work of being a good person and working towards attaining enough practice to be the person we want to be at all times in every situation is the goal. Choosing to live positively is the work. When you feel yourself consumed with thoughts of guilt, sadness, or anger, take a moment to sit down and acknowledge what is in your head. Then take a deep breath, give yourself a pep talk, and release the feelings. Be aware of what these negative feelings do to your body. Sweaty hands, stomach aches, headaches, diarrhea, and feeling fatigued are a few symptoms.

            The way we feel does affect our body. If you choose to hold on to low resonating feelings it will lead to disease, heart attack, stomach problems and much more. If you don’t learn to deal with your stress in positive ways it will often lead to depression and/or sickness. It can also lead to substance abuse.

            Alcohol, drugs, and prescription pills are part of life. What’s right and what’s wrong has boiled down to choice in each individual. What I can gather from the information I’ve had around me my entire life is that the only true answer that works for everyone is balance. There will be nights of drinking and partying with friends, its inevitable for most. People will choose to smoke pot for recreation or to self-medicate. Prescription pills are available quite easily to just about anyone with the right story. Instead of talking about what is right we seem to all live in our own secret world of choice. Everyday telling ourselves that whatever choice we each make, must be the right choice. If you aren’t allowing yourself to live a pure life, free of substance at “least” 75% of the time then you are using to escape. When you aren’t able to be aware enough to have a hold on what happens in your life you are bound to spiral out of control. Addiction to one substance will lead to trying other, harder drugs in the chase of the high and further your mental block on life. I often look at before and after pictures of meth addicts and understand quickly the meaning of addiction. This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs. It brings the commercial to life. 

            Its hard for me to fathom that the government and doctors have the “right” answers when I believe the substances they choose for us are the ones that make them the most money and are usually are the most addictive. Which means the wallet continuously opens as long as the person feels the need for the pills. So the money just keeps rolling in. Cigarettes can kill; we’ve all seen the ads. But as long as the government makes laws to advertise you are killing yourself and raises the taxes to ensure they make more money, then it becomes okay. There are answers in medicine for many things and I am not putting down doctors that save lives and help people that need help. But to me, there seems to be no “right” answer. That’s why we must take it upon ourselves to find balance. We must find enough balance in our own lives to love life with a sober mind. Doctor care for those that need it will become a quicker practice when we take it upon ourselves to do the work in our own mind as well as take their advice. Quick fixes are easy but working towards a right answer takes work. People whom are depressed will never come out of depression unless they do the work in self-acceptance, purpose, and loving life. By adding a pill you add possible addiction on top of that journey. So fight for balance in life. Be aware of what you are doing to yourself and have control over yourself. Be open to foreign practice of yoga, meditation, even walks outdoors will connect you with nature and a wholesome healing practice. If you choose to lock yourself away in the comfort of four dark walls and turn a cold shoulder on life, you have to live with that choice. Finding comfort in misery can be easier then living in happiness to many. If we choose to think we are tortured souls and life treats us unfairly then it is written. “Don’t let your mind control you. You control your mind.”

            There is no book or law that tells us right from wrong. Nor do I think anyone has the “right” answer. In a perfect world of “pure” enlightenment, no substance is needed or used. Our purpose work in life is working towards this goal of feeling bliss in our everyday lives and keeping a positive outlook even on our worst of days. But when spirituality and reality meet their needs to be a sense of balance. If we are staying true to the work of being good people and living from love and compassion for others and ourselves then we have the ability to be aware enough to understand right from wrong. When you choose to indulge in substances be aware enough while you are doing them to make right choices. Most bad situations that happen to people in life happen because the people using or the person using wasn’t able to make clear decisions. “I don’t remember because I was drunk or high”, will never be a valid excuse. We have the ability to understand happiness more and move away from the mentality that happiness is found in a bottle or in a pill. It is a choice for individuals to make for themselves. The only thing that saves us from ourselves is balance. Don’t allow stress or a substance to lead you to a dark world. Find balance within your own life and listen to your heart for the answer. Work towards “pure” enlightenment but just because you make the decision to drink or do a drug, doesn’t mean all beliefs and morals go out the window. Be smart. The work towards happiness is work done in every mental state. Nobody can tell you what to do but you should want enough for yourself in life to know better. Don’t let bad choices in altered states be the lessons. You deserve better.