Read time: 7.5 minutes
The most common question people ask when they are struggling with addiction or long-term anxiety is simple. Will this ever get better?
The answer depends on your memory, your resolve, and how much energy you are willing to put into finding peace. We have to remember to practice our tools every day, moment by moment. We have to commit to growing, to reaching the next stage of maturity and development.
I am not selling comfort. I am offering transformation. You are reading this because you want to make it through. So do I. That is why I wrote this.
Even now, this moment is better for both of us, because we are in it together.
I know how desperate it feels to be trapped in obsessive thinking. The mind spins out, and without even realizing it, our self-esteem shatters again, just from the loop itself. The content of the obsession changes, but it always comes back to damaged self-worth. When we are triggered, it is like someone dropped a coin into a broken jukebox and hit that same old song. The song of anxiety.
The first addiction we need to face is anxiety itself.
That is right. Anxiety. I know how that sounds. Some people would rather admit to being criminals than say they are anxious. But you are not alone. You are one of billions of creatures with a nervous system. Anxiety is instinct. It is woven into our biology. It has been with us since the first spark of awareness.
That is what we are really up against. Not just our personal struggles, but our evolutionary wiring.
The good news is that evolution gave us something extraordinary. The ability to think about our thoughts. To shift our patterns. To wake up. Some of us are here to figure out this puzzle, not just for ourselves, but for others too.
That is what this [addiction book] is about. It is one piece of the puzzle. My hope is that it sparks something in you. A small insight. A shift. A reason to keep going. As you read, I ask you to believe that I believe this: healing means moving from anxiety to relaxation. From panic to peace.
And the more we stay there, the easier it gets. The longer we stay, the deeper it settles. That relaxed state is not laziness. It is power. It is the place where the body heals, the mind clears, and the heart begins to open.
So yes, there is hope. A lot of it.
For thousands of years, some of the most spiritually evolved people hit rock bottom before they found peace. Even the Buddha struggled with intense anxiety before he reached clarity. He did not just sit under a tree and breathe it away. He obsessed. He agitated. His breath was erratic. He was flooded with cortisol and adrenaline. He starved himself. The myths call him enlightened, but he was a sufferer, a seeker, just like you and me.
What set him apart was his resolve. That is what I want for us. Not perfection. Just resolve.
Find a few truths. Practice them. Share them. That is what life asks of us. You do not need to be a guru. Just write down what you learn. Pass it on. You do not even have to sign your name. That is how we help each other rise.
If you are willing to sit with this book, return to it, argue with it, mark it up, ignore some parts, devour others, it will help. Not because I am special, but because I practiced what I was taught. I was lucky to learn from great teachers. They showed me how to distill the message of healing. Now I am offering it to you. And I am not here to sugarcoat it.
Most of this [book] is kind, but I will say it clearly. If you do not work hard to get mentally healthy, there is no hope. Healing does not just show up one day. Someone has to tell you the truth. If we were in battle, I would tell you to load your weapon before running into fire. This is no different.
The path to peace can be rocky, sometimes constantly. But if you keep showing up, if you stay humble, if you practice, it will get better.
This [book] is not just for people addicted to drugs or alcohol. It is for anyone who sees that they have any form of addiction.
Yes, we will talk about alcohol. That is easy. It is everywhere. But the most dangerous addictions are the ones nobody talks about. The addiction to thought. The addiction to stories. The loops we replay in our heads. Most of those thoughts are fiction. Even the helpful ones are rarely what helps us grow.
Most of us did not grow up close to nature. Many of us were hurt. Some of us hurt others. Our path is different from the sages of the past. We cannot disappear into caves or forests. We live in cities. We live in overstimulated, undernourished minds.
So we have work to do. And we are going to do it together.
Take your time. If a chapter pisses you off, mark it up. If something I say gets under your skin, good. That means it hit something real. Your therapist might not say it the way I do, and that is fine. Their role is different. Mine is not to be your guru. I do not want followers. I want peace in my family. I want breath in my lungs. I want to stay grounded. And yes, I want to run a successful business too. I am here to live fully. I am here to serve. And if I end up eating canned food for dinner, I will still be doing push-ups. I will still be meditating. I will still be cleaning my space and clipping my nails. Because I know what it takes to stay sane.
I wake up every day and fight for my sanity. Not from fear, but because I want to feel love instead of loneliness. And I have learned that loneliness is a habit. I inherited it. I did not choose it. But I can heal it.
You are not alone. Not as long as you are breathing, connected to nature, to someone, or even just to the world around you. You do not need a miracle. You need a practice.
So breathe. Let go of resentment. Let go of fear. Rebuild your self-esteem one breath at a time. Love cannot find its way in if you do not let yourself feel some love first. Even just a little. Compassion is the gateway. That is the word I want you to hold on to. Compassion. For yourself, for the world, for the mess we are all in together.
Now let’s begin.
This is an excerpt from Volume I on Addiction. Not yet published as of July 2025.