What most people don’t realize about addiction, whether it’s to alcohol, drugs, shopping, overeating, or porn, is that it’s not the core of the problem. The addicted person just uses it to cope with their real problem: their addicted mind or funky brain.
For recovery to happen, people need to change their thinking to grow to new levels of awareness.
Ultimately, what we need to strive for is emotional sobriety.
How do you respond to situations? Are you responding angrily or are you responding intelligently and with compassion, love, and understanding?
Danny Berry, the author of Funky Wisdom: A Practical Guide to Life, shares the HOW approach to help achieve success in one’s journey through recovery.
The HOW Approach to What
Whether your question is how to become sober, how to become successful, or how to have healthy relationships, the answer is in the question itself: HOW. It stands for Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness.
Honesty
You have to be honest and say that something’s not going right or something’s off. When you can honestly admit there’s a problem, you can fix it. You can’t solve a problem you won’t admit exists.
Open-mindedness
When we don’t have an open mind, it narrows our focus to the same solution over and over. We need to change our thinking to grow to new levels of awareness. Once you’re honest with yourself and acknowledge that something needs to be fixed, then you’re open to listening to new ideas.
Have an open mind to anything. Most people think the most valuable asset is money or investments, but it’s actually time. Our time is finite. We have to live with an open mind and find new ways of living and adapting and enjoying this spiritual experience we’re having here on earth.
Willingness
Willingness comes from the pain. Be willing to focus on one goal at a time and to rewire your subconscious mind which is all based around beliefs and behaviors.
If you want to learn more about the HOW approach, check out Episode 130: Funky Brain with Dennis Berry.