Addiction

Day Two Complete! Yup, I am on my way to recovery and not having an easy time. In the ironic coincidence called my life, the topic of my only class for the day was addiction where the prof. took it upon himself to talk about addiction and the various neuro-anatomical regions which are indicative of involvement. FYI: Nucleus Accumbens is a very sexy little place to go for your honeymoon.
I guess I will talk about what I think addiction is; i.e. contrast abuse and use.
Lastly, I will talk about ways to put some power in your will and elucidate a good drill.
Briefly, abuse is not just when someone's ingestion of a substance becomes invasive. It is based on one's dependence such that they would be hindered in the absence of this substance.
Thats right all you caffeine junkies out there. You're addicted and you know it; your brain doesn't hit fourth gear till you use coffee for your clutch and this, IMO, makes you an addict. Don't worry though b/c I'm an addict too, though I have had a tendency to choose less socially acceptable substances because I like to breath my pain in and out.
To elaborate a bit more about an operational definition of addiction again. It is when you become maladaptive and or dysfunctional OR when you are functional but require a non-essential substance (i.e. not food and water [& I don't mean junk food]) to get through your day. Maybe even require is a little strong become you then approach the demarcation of want to need. I want a lot of things but need very few and as much as I'll argue with myself, this list is still pretty damn small.
To curtail or minimize reliance on anything then you simply need to develop a list of things to change which will alter the ultimate change and lastly to adhere to this list. MUCH MUCH easier said than done; believe me I stick like glue to what I do but when it makes me feel like pooh then I must see through.
MEDITATE! Chisel your focus and find suitable supplements which will satiate your desire. For example, I am trying to eat more and exercise to ameliorate my smoking cravings. Secondly and most importantly, I am avoiding BIG triggers, namely drugs (alcohol and delta9THC), not forever though it wouldn't be all to bad to cut out drinking because it kind of sucks in general. I think I'd rather have some exotic fruit juice than some exotic gut juice.
Just make a plan and work on it and keep on adjusting. Evolve, adapt and get fit; grow grow show.
Yes you know so row the flow into what you sow.  Reap a deep heap to keep.