Dallas Bragg argues you keep relapsing because you don't love the addicted part of yourself. Most people grew up with conditional love, which makes it hard to accept their shame. He says treat addiction like a partner to negotiate with, not an enemy to destroy.
Guys, the reason you keep relapsing is because you don't love your addiction. Unconditional love is the power of this universe. It heals your heart. It heals your soul. It brings miracles into your life. Addiction is a part of you. So when you hate it, you are hating yourself. And here's why that feels comfortable. You're not used to feeling unconditional love in your life. You had love that was on condition that you acted a certain way, that you looked a certain way, that you did a certain thing. And that's That is not reality. You know, Jesus and Buddha and all the great masters and all the great texts say love your enemies. What they're saying is love all of yourself, even the dark parts, even the parts you don't want, even those shadow parts that you are embarrassed to show. Love them all. Become a diplomat to create a peace treaty with your addiction. Try to understand what it wants so that you two can work together in an integrated way to move forward into recovery.
