Dallas Bragg describes cravings as messengers with two parts: the physical sensation and the story you tell about it. His crystal craving felt unbearable not because of the urge itself, but because he feared relapse and judged himself. You can't always stop cravings, but you control how you interpret them.
So let's talk about cravings. They are messengers, not monsters. Every craving has 2 components: the primary experience, which is the physical sensation, and the secondary suffering. That's the story we tell ourselves about what it means. I vividly remember being overcome with cravings. Heart raced, palms sweated, my mind fixated on crystal. But what turned this bodily experience into unbearable suffering wasn't the sensations themselves. It was my interpretation of them. I should be beyond this by now. This means I'm going to relapse. I'll never be free. These thoughts created far more distress than the craving itself. We can't always control when cravings arise, but we have complete authority over how we interpret them. So try approaching your next craving this way. Recognize the separation.
