About two months ago I began the process of quitting smoking. I was hanging out with some friends of mine and I was about to smoke the third cigarette of the day. To me this was an accomplishment because it was late in the day. As I enjoyed my relaxing smoke, I began talking about how hard the addiction was to break. My friend's girlfriend was nearby and made the condescending comment that "addiction is a form weakness." It not hard imagine, I implied that the comment as saying "YOU are weak."

First of all, this pissed me off. Luckily I held my tongue, but the quote stuck with me. It wasn't until a couple of days later I figured out why I was pissed. To define addiction as "weak" doesn't make a whole lot of sense. An addiction is a function our mind uses to tell us we need something. It's like its way of shouting "I NEED THIS!!!" If we have evolved for millions of years and we still have it then it must be a function of our survival. In layman's terms addiction must be beneficial otherwise it would no longer exist.

So knowing full well what the withdrawals of nicotine felt like, I realized that it felt very similar to other feelings. Feelings such as hunger and sleepiness. In a way, eating and sleeping were just like fixes. If our mind thinks we need something then the best way to tell us is through withdrawals. We don't eat because our body needs more food. We eat because we are hungry. Hunger is the withdrawal. The food is the fix.

If you still don't catch my drift here are some more examples.

Physical Addictions (Withdrawal Symptom):
Sleeping (Sleepiness)
Eating (Hunger)
Drinking (Thirsty)
Homeostasis (Cold/Hot)
Health (Pain)

Emotional/Mental Addictions (Withdrawal Symptom):
Our need to belong (Loneliness/Broken Heartiness)
Being goal orientation (Boredom)
Feeling in control (Stress)
Being happy (Depression)
Sex... (porn?)

While there aren't names out there for nicotine, cocaine or alcohol withdrawals, there are names for very common withdrawal symptoms. Since these addictions we are born with have all been termed, I think people seldom view them as being addictions.

Anyways I'm due a fix in the bed, my point being addiction is not a weakness. Those hypocrites go through withdrawals everyday. Oh yea and if your afraid you wont to live a fulfilled life, just remember that life is nothing but an addiction. Personal side note, its been 2 weeks 3 days 6 hours since I smoked my last cigarette. Peace out.