Realities of Addiction

“Does man create the environment, or does the environment create the man?” Both are true.

There are many definitions and models of addiction.  None are totally wrong, yet none are totally right.  Most models fail to integrate the elements of nature and nurture needed to address addiction – in all areas of life.

Addiction is a natural response to life, when we lack the tools to deal with life.

It is a natural human instinct to turn our fears into symbols, and destroy the symbols,
in the hope that it will destroy the fear.
It is a logic that keeps recurring throughout human history,
from the Crusades to the witch hunts to the present day.

― Johann Hari, Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs

Addiction causes our lives to become unmanageable. It causes our value systems to change from trust to fear. We go into a world of fantasy. We lose touch with reality.  We lose everything that is important to us because the only thing we value is the illusion that is buried within the addiction.

For the addict, the addictive elements of the mind (memories) will be with them for the rest of their lives. If addiction is allowed to take charge it will race at the opportunity to run their lives again.

Whether it is drinking, drugs, sex, caffeine, food, etc… Whatever method we use to cope with reality and difficult situations, will ultimately end up controlling us, if we fail to take charge of our lives – find resolution and wisdom.

Regardless of the addictive behavior a common personality universally forms:

• Dishonesty – The Control of Information
• Selfishness and Narcissism – The Obsession of Self and What Other People Think
• Hidden Agendas – Grooming of People for the Purpose of Manipulation
• Distrust of the Outcome –  The Obsession to Need to Know What is Going On With Everybody (Controlling the World Around One)

What is Sobriety?

Recovery is the ability for a person to function in their interpersonal relationships
and on the job and enjoy their life, instead of debating whether or not the illness is completely eradicated.

― The Carter Center, 2003

Recovery is not just about learning how to put the plug in the jug.  Recovery is not just about changing our behavior.  Recovery is is about addressing our beliefs (where our addictions live), and replacing them with values (of recovery).  To do this we need to learn how to live through the perspective of the Four Absolutes and the 5 Dimensions of Discovery / Sobriety, in all areas of lives… in all of our affairs. 

PWI Recovery is rooted in the Four Absolutes.  These Absolutes form the foundation of REAL RECOVERY (taking charge of our own lives) and when implemented within the PWI Recovery Co-Lab Institute environment, provide for value-based recovery, unity and solidarity across multiple environments and dimensions of life.

The environments of the Four Absolutes is comprised of:

• Honesty (The Expression of Truth) 
• Intelligent Selflessness
• Intelligent Openness of Intent to Support (No Hidden Agendas)
• Intelligent Trust-Based Reality based on:
  • Attention (See all elements)
  • Respect (No judgment)
  • Appreciation (Find intrinsic value)

The environment of the Four Absolutes opens the door to the:

• Acceptance and Value of Truth,
• Recognition of Our 5 Basic Needs,
• Trust, Value and Believablity, and
• Experience of Value as Achievable.

As we learn to live life through these Four Absolute perspectives, we are able to develop the skills of:

• Self-authority to be able to assess and discern so we can make good decisions
• Self-responsibility to have the skill to do what we say and say what we do
• Self-accountability to learn from what we have done so we can make better decisions in the future

This PWI Recovery process builds self-identity, self-esteem and self-efficacy.  It allows us to obtain and attain self-confidence, self-trust and self-control / self-discipline… and most importantly emotional maturity / emotional sobriety.  Through PWI Recovery process we learn to separate from our beliefs and find value in our life, recovery and in all 5 Dimensions of Long-term Recovery:

Now, let’s take a look at each dimension…

PWI Recovery :
REAL Answers – PROVEN Solutions

Dimension 1
PHYSICAL SOBRIETY:
12-Step and Problem Recognition

A problem well defined is already half solved.

The first dimension of sobriety is about entering the world of physical sobriety.  It is about learning how to step into the world of sobriety and begin to find freedom and personal power in physical abstinence from addictive, compulsive, excessive use of substances, behaviors, processes, habits or other dependencies. In order to do this, we need to begin to walk and discover the 12 Steps with a foundation in The Four Absolutes.

Please Note: Many people need support to get physically sober. The PWI Recovery Co-Lab Institute has several trusted partners in the recovery industry, who can help you through this first dimension of sobriety and your first step towards true freedom, opportunity and life.

PWI Recovery begins with The Pocket Wisdom Insights 12-Step eMod Buddy™ App Course that offers a bridge between traditional 12-Step programs and the second stage of sobriety – The Next Frontier: Emotional Sobriety, as defined by Bill Wilson:

“For many people, recovery falls into two categories.

• Stage 1 – Learning to Maintain Abstinence from a Behavior or Substance
• Stage 2 – Developing Emotional Maturity and True Spiritual Acceptance

Many people in recovery never reach the second stage of recovery. 

They stay stuck in a process of reaching out and then experience another emotional relapse.”

― Bill Wilson, 1958

The Pocket Wisdom Insights 12-Step eMod Buddy™ App Course supports Stage 1 and introduces us to Stage 2 of sobriety as defined Bill Wilson (above), in one of his final messages to his community.

The Pocket Wisdom Insights 12-Step eMod Buddy™ App Course teaches us that many of our behaviors and characteristics have become automatic reactions.  It introduces us to the very nature of our life experience, which includes:

Additionally, to support our 12-Step journey there are six books that have been written to empower you to recognize common characteristics of absence and the need for recovery.

1. Life Inside Me – Emotional Sobriety
2. I Am in Control – But I Kicked the Habit
3. The Great Leader – Narcissism
4. The Great Manager – Borderline Personality
5. Creating “Special” Relationships – Grooming Partners
6. The Great Leader/Manager in Action – Seeds of Organization Destruction

 

Dimension 2
FINANCIAL SOBRIETY

Do what you love, and love what you do.

The two dimension of sobriety is about developing and enhancing your career, rather than just getting / doing a job.  

Financial Sobriety deals with the core need of survival and the core identity of the individual as to who and what they are.

If we are to be successful in recovery and life we need to not only go out and get jobs, but we need to:

• Develop and enhance our careers,
• Find our passions, and
• Invite our workplace cultures to discover collaborative tools for change, interdependent teamwork and the tools for change in a changing world.

To support your career development PWI Recovery offers a complete 2-part series, known as Pocket Wisdom Insights Scalable Cultures Responsive to Change eMod Buddy™ App, for job and skills development that builds both followship and leadership within individuals and cultures, while introducing Recovery principles into the workplace.  Thus, providing the tools to create sober work environments to support recovering addicts, provided prevention tools for those at risk, as well as early interventions for those engaging in addictive behaviors and thinking.

Pocket Wisdom Insights Scalable Cultures Responsive to Change eMod Buddy™ App are not just about you, but about supporting your workplace and colleagues.  It is your chance to give back to your environment, while creating your environment.  The organization can build their culture, while reducing future problems related to addictive behaviors, resistance to change, under-minding and internal competition and political games. Other benefits include:

• The creation of a foundation for level 5 followship-leadership
• The Identification of hidden problems and correct the problems 
• The identification and correction of destructive thinking and behavior patterns 
• Extensive cost savings – in lost productivity, lost creativity and destructive behaviors  

Dimension 3
EMOTIONAL SOBRIETY:
Paths of Life and the Journey of Letting Go

Discover how to deal with life on life’s terms.

In the third dimension of PWI Recovery you will explore principles that provide a strong foundation on which to build your emotional sobriety.  This emotional dimension opens the door to emotional freedom from dependencies.  It allows you to learn and discover how to take charge of your life and make decision based on reality and logic, instead of feelings and emotions.  Thus, allowing you to build and grow your emotional maturity:

• Emotional Authority
• Emotional Responsibility
• Emotional Accountability….with Self and Others (Shared)

The Journey to Emotional Sobriety starts with Paths of Life.  Pocket Wisdom Insights Paths of Life: Charting Your Course eMod Buddy™ App allows you to being to examine the two worlds in which we live (Fear or Trust) and the behaviors associated with each world (control or personal power).  The intention of this course is not to provide you with all the answers to life’s questions, but rather to increase your awareness of some basic universal principles, so you can begin to see more choices and opportunities as you walk forward to find emotional resolution.

The Journey of Emotional Sobriety continues with the Journey of Letting Go.  Pocket Wisdom Insights Journey to Letting Go eMod Buddy™ App 3-part Series Emotional Resolution, as it takes you through a process of learning how to let go and separate from old emotional (reactions and) triggers.  This process is achieved through a series of courses that takes you on a Journey of Letting Go of Emotions, Behaviors and Relationships:

• Journey 1: Let Go of Emotion
• Journey 2: Let Go of Behaviors
• Journey 3: Let Go of Relationships

Dimension 4
RELATIONSHIP SOBRIETY

Divided we fall, united we stand.

The fourth dimension of sobriety is about maintaining the Four Absolutes within personal relationships no matter the environment, by learning how to assess and discern healthy vs. unhealthy social environments.  It is about learning how to be in the world, but not of the world. 

Pocket Wisdom for Life Part 2 and 3  eMod Buddy™ Apps offer you down to earth and practical pathways to gain insight into the ways you look at life and how you can utilize your levels of awareness to achieve a more peaceful and happier life… with self and others.  These two eMod Buddy™ App courses will support you in learning how to connect, communicate and relate to self and others, by taking you on a journey of emotional maturity and stress and conflict resolution:

• Life Part 2 Emotional Maturity – Enhancing Your Passage to Adulthood
• Life Part 3 Relationships – Resolving Stress and Conflict in Relationships

Additionally, PWI Recovery offers Interactive Socratic Questionnaires to support Anger Resolution, known as “5 Gears of Life in Action SocraticQs™.”  5 Gears of Life in Action SocraticQs™ provides unique, interactive processes to carefully examine the root causes of anger and initiate a process of resolution.  Thus,  providing you with the tools to discover how to:

• Turn “anger at” into “anger about”
• Support others when they get angry
• Deal with anger instead of trying to manage and control it

Dimension 5
SOCIAL SOBRIETY

To Be In the World, BUT NOT of the World
Be the Change That You Want to See in the World
To Teach What We Need to Learn

The fifth dimension of sobriety is about capturing, expressing, acknowledging and publishing principle-based messages into eMod Buddy App-Ons™ (parables, movies with a message and principles in action). eMod Buddy App-Ons™ allow you to propagate and share your wisdom and success, in a way that people can really hear and relate to your experience and message.  

Alcoholism, drugs, sex, food, gambling, anger, and lying are all diseases of mind, body and soul. Recovery is not just about the stopping of drinking, drugging or lying. Recovery is not just about resolving the wreckage of the past. Recovery is about transferring our life experiences into practical wisdom that will enhance our present and future, through the process of:

• Smart Assessment – Seeing all the relevant elements
• Intelligent Discernment – Deciding the impact of cause and effect of the relevant elements
• True Wisdom – Knowing when and how to implement all the necessary changes to result in progress

This process allows us to capture our wisdom and share it with others through eMod Buddy App-Ons™:

• Elevates the participants experience of content, principles and models by exploring how others have applied Pocket Wisdom Insights to their life and achieved success; whereby participants develop the perspective that: “If it worked for others it can work for me.”
• Provides the opportunity to read/watch eMod Buddy App-Ons™ created by fellow participants, to explore how others apply Pocket Wisdom Insights into their lives.
  • eMod Buddy App-Ons™ consist of concepts and principles that are relative to the corresponding eMod Buddy™ App content.

There are three types of eMod Buddy App-Ons™:

1. Principles in Action
2. Movies with a Message
3. Pocket Wisdom Parables