“Given up on giving up? Been there, done that, and now, written the booklet” says Josef Peeters. In the telling Chapter 3: Addiction, Josef wrote: “… I found a courage deep within me that is within every living thing on this planet. Animals have it in abundance. Mothers of any variety display that courage with vehemence should their baby be threatened. Every last human being on this planet has the propensity for courage if they allow it”.
We truly do not know another’s journey even when we believe we are in empathy. Advice, consolation, even reprimand and condolence, however well-intentioned rarely have the success to transform the ‘condition’ of another.
As an executive coach and business coach, I start with some work on self-awareness and self-understanding. I seek to encourage individuals to awaken the truth within themselves – to remove barriers and to see the ‘same’ issue yet from a different perspective. I am but a mirror of reflection and indeed myself leverage other such mirrors in my learning and growing journeys.
Addictions are habits be it behavioural, traits of conditioning or the cravings for this or that which defy will power and other forms of psychological control. Addictions from smoking, to sugar rich foods and drinks, from street drugs to prescribed drugs, I truly do not believe that the theories, scientific knowledge and professionally managed bureaucracies of community service fully accomplish their mission. Where success comes surely it is more when the individuals themselves choose to leverage available programs and then it becomes their ‘own’ psychological journey. This does not in any way take away the courage and care of the helpers.
Josef Peeters book: Giving Up – A state of mind, should in my view be essential reading for any victim of addiction and carer alike. I have learned much from this little yet I would say – should be iconic book. Just twenty-three pages long, it delivers the gut wrenching story on one person’s journey spanning a significant portion of that life. Every medical and therapeutic service, across cultures and borders should be aware of this story so we can help ourselves first, and then perhaps others.
Thank you Josef for sharing.