We've all done it;

acted compulsively.

Didn't matter that we knew it was a bad idea.

It felt good, so we did it.

Diminishing returns

However, if we keep doing the thing, the positive effects of it taper off while the negative effects ramp up. Soon we're left at rock_bottom.

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I'm speaking, of course, about clicking the redeem-rewards button.

I've gone cold turkey since October 29th.

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If you are one of the many Steemians who suffer from chronic reward redemption, please seek help.

There is a way out.

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But in all seriousness...

I am attempting to employ more restraint where ever I can,
no matter how small of a step.

If there is one bite of food left on my plate,
but I'm not hungry: I throw it away.

When I was a kid...

I used to have way more self-control.
In some ways, I was more mature as a child than I am now.
What happened to me?

Depression (no not that kind)

Contrary to what many are saying these days, addiction is not a disease. Many people out there think that calling it a disease is progressive and a step in the right direction. In reality it is just another tool to make people feel powerless over their own lives; to remain dependent on the establishment.

Just take a look at the actual 12-step program from the official AA website:

https://www.alcohol.org/alcoholics-anonymous/

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Yikes!

Only four of the steps don't make reference to "God", "Him", or "Spirituality".
What does God have to do with addiction?

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Spirituality is just another tool of the establishment to warp something pure and gain power over the masses.

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The establishment proves it can weaponize anything.

By making us believe that addiction is a disease and we are "powerless to stop it", they remain in control. I've known dry-alcoholics that have been off the sauce for over a decade, yet they keep going to AA meetings.

Why?

Because the underlying problems still remain. They were never addressed in the first place. In addition, our community has been stripped of us and AA can provide that for a lot of people that go, even though they feel 'cured'.

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Symptom

Addiction is not a disease; it is the symptom of a much bigger problem. Addiction is the coping mechanism the brain uses to gain temporary relief from the pain we are experiencing and can't seem to do anything about.

The vast majority of the time, addiction is simply a byproduct of depression. Want to cure an addiction? Eliminate the depression causing it.

So simple.

Obviously not, but if curing addiction was easy then everyone would do it.

For me, the truly interesting thing about addiction are the infinite ways it can materialize. It could be drugs, work, sex, food, hobbies, games, or any other activity that receives a hit of dopamine from the brain.

It is a fleeting coping mechanism for negative feelings, nothing more.

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When we take drugs to mitigate the symptoms of a cold, we still have the cold. None of the drugs we take lower the duration time of being infected by a virus; they can only increase the duration, if anything.

The same is true with addiction. Mitigating the damages of addiction directly does nothing to cure the underlying problem on a long-term basis.

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Denial

Most people don't even know they are depressed because they refuse to accept reality for what it is. We all live in the Matrix. I personally was in denial for a very very long time. Depression is weakness. We think we can choose how we feel, but like addiction itself, this often ends up being a temporary quick-fix. The pressure builds and builds; bound to explode into a situation even worse than the alternative.

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Procrastination is a double-edged sword.

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Scarcity Slavery

This is the root cause of most depression, and also why many people don't understand their own mind-state. What percentage of the world actually realizes that they are enslaved using the trinity of modern slavery? The vast majority of the population is brainwashed into believing they are free and are in control of their own destiny. The best lies are littered with sprinkles of truth.

Basic needs are not being met.

Happiness and contentment are the default neutral state of the human psyche. Negative emotions gestate on a critical component either being missing in life or outright attacking our well-being.

_{Beware the Police State}

Why do so many people think USD is backed by gold to this day?

Because they were taught that it used to, and not taught how it is.

Why do so many people think the government has checks and balances,

and have no idea what a lobbyist is?

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These lessons were chosen much more deliberately than we might have originally guessed.

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Origin Story

For me it all started when I was sent to the indoctrination camps known as the public school system. I wasn't sure exactly what was wrong; only that it was certainly a lesser form of torture from one day to the next; A facility to help me cope with how the real world would be after I got out.

I was taught how to compete.
I was taught how to hate.
I was taught how to treat others as second-class citizens.
I was taught how to suppress my emotions.
I was taught how to run down the clock and achieve the bare minimum.
I was taught how to be the ultimate scarcity-slave.

And I still am.

Nothing has changed except my realization of reality.
Real change takes hard work,
and I'm working on it.
Slowly.

Ignorance is bliss?

I can't eliminate my depression. How could I with this daunting knowledge of how the world works? The entire planet is owned and enslaved by dozens of different mafia organizations; from the banking cartels to the healthcare processing stations to the Megacorps to government itself.

Mitigation

The best I can do now is switch addictions to more productive paths. Many people who 'cure' their addictions are quite apt at this. They can stop doing drugs and start going to the gym instead. They can stop playing video games and focus on work. There are many examples, but these are some of the things I'm doing. I'll always remember the World of Warcraft guild "Switching Addictions"... haha... so true. whoof

Money helps

How many couples out there can say that arguing about money is their main source of discontent? How many people would be living better more fulfilling lives if they were just receiving their fair share of the world's resources? Resources are abundant, but distribution is artificially scarce to impose economic slavery.

I've been running a marathon.

This marathon is not measured in distance, but time.

I'll tell you what, I've got a gold metal in burning time.

Weed and video games have been my indispensable training partners.

But now those days are near over.

The air is charged.
The world as we know it is ending.
My purgatory is a tunnel in time, and I see the light.
Soon™ I will show the world what I have learned, and be judged accordingly.