This is my question for you today:
Are you a spiritual junkie?
I’m sure that 98% of people would instantly respond “no, of course I’m not.”
I’m also sure that most of them wouldn’t really stop to evaluate their relationship with spirituality.
Spirituality can be quite addictive, yet you’ll never find anybody who admits to being addicted to it. And that’s what makes spirituality a much more dangerous kind of drug than tobacco, alcohol and cocaine. Because it can poison you unnoticed.
Before you affirm “no, I’m not addicted to spirituality” and close this email, check out these five signals of spiritual addiction, so you can be 100% sure you’re clean. And if your relationship with spirituality is not as clean as you’ve imagined, it’s your chance to recognize your addiction and seek a detox (maybe at the mall, at a soccer stadium or at a nightclub).
5 signs of spiritual addiction
1) Do you feel alone and misunderstood if you’re not close to spiritual people?
This is the first symptom of spiritual addiction: you start looking for those who share the same philosophy as you, and step by step you disconnect from your old social circle. With the passing of time, you and your spiritual friends will create your own bubble. You’ll feel safe around each other, knowing that nobody will challenge your beliefs or question your spiritual practices.
If your spirituality doesn’t help you to see the beauty in the human beings around you and drop out your fears to develop deeper and better relationships with them, then it’s working as a drug, rather than helping you to improve.
2) Do you seek spiritual advice for making important decisions in your life?
Making decisions is not an easy thing, especially when there are important things at stake. Fortunately, the spiritual world is full of oracles, coaches and gurus at your disposal. Most of them don’t even have the answers for their own lives but are ready to sell you their advice. Even if the advice is good and reliable, what’s the point of living your life relying on other people’s knowledge?
True spirituality should help you to break through your insecurity and find the personal power to make your own decisions. If instead it makes you dependent on external guidance, it’s operating exactly as a drug. You get some peace and relief every time you get advice, but it only makes you weaker, more insecure, afraid and dependent.
3) Are you constantly looking for a new technique, a life coach or a guru to change your life?
If you can’t wait for the next session with your life coach, for the next workshop on kabbalah and angel numbers, or for your next ayahuasca ceremony, I’m sorry, but you may be a spiritual junkie.
Of course, it’s healthy to be absorbing new knowledge and developing ourselves from time to time. Yet, it only makes sense if the knowledge and self-improvement you get fulfill you and you end up ready to live your daily life better. But if you finished your workshop or coaching session already hungry for the next, it means you’re in a state of anxiety and you can’t live without your drug.
4) You have never admitted to yourself that some of the spiritual practices you’ve tried don’t work.
There are so many miraculous techniques for sale in the spiritual market! When I look at my library, I can find interesting books side by side: “Think and Grow Rich”, “Ask and it is Given”, “Healing with Energy”, “Zero limits” and “Ho’oponopono: The Hawaiian Forgiveness Ritual as the Key to Your Life’s Fulfillment”. What these books have in common is that none of them worked for me.
I’m the kind of person who likes to experiment with techniques and philosophies to make my own judgment. I’ve learned great things that helped me a lot along the way, but I must admit that many of the techniques I’ve tried didn’t work.
It’s hard to admit that. You put your faith, enthusiasm and effort into something that ends up being a complete failure sucks. To avoid frustration you can take the easy path of forced positivity and just move forward to the next technique, coach or guru, instead of stopping to catch up with your real feelings.
Now if you’re concerned about your self-development, you’ve probably crossed with some false promise that was nothing but a fraud (as this kind of material makes up around 95% of the spiritual content on the internet). It’s disgusting to see all these schemes and lies created to take advantage of people’s good faith and naivety. Yet, if you can’t look back, see the failures, question and get upset for being played, you may be a spiritual junkie. And you probably prefer to believe that the techniques are good and the problem is you, so you have more reason to feed your addiction and seek for more spirituality, under the excuse of trying to improve yourself.
5) If you forget everything you know about spirituality and completely erase your spiritual life, would you feel empty, unhappy or frustrated?
Your spirituality can give you a reason for feeling special. It can give you hope when you’re unhappy. It can give you comfort when you’re afraid. It can give you purpose when you’re lost. And your spirituality can become your walking stick.
Take some vacations from your spirituality, and check how you feel. Can you enjoy your life without the spice of spiritual meanings and greater purposes? If so, congratulations! But if you start feeling empty and anxious to the point of needing to call your angel guardian or setting an appointment with your healer, you’re addicted.
How to avoid spiritual addiction
If you’ve identified yourself in one or more of the five items above, know that there’s still hope for you. I was a spiritual addict myself (it’s hard to admit) but now I’m sober.
I want to share with you what I’ve learned from my experience. I’m sure it will help you to avoid spiritual addiction and to break through it to find a healthy and empowering relationship with your spirituality.
That’s why I’m making available for you my masterclass Free Your Mind. This masterclass will help you to break through the toxic spirituality and connect with your innermost creativity and power.