In my work as a crisis line counselor, I speak with callers of various ages and who have a variety of concerns. A concern that comes up frequently is struggles with addiction. Callers have reached the point where they know their addiction is hurting themselves and others and they want to stop–whether it be alcohol, other drugs, gambling, cutting, and/or other behaviors. It is very difficult to stop doing a behavior that has become addictive. But thankfully many people have succeeded in maintaining sobriety; there are many success stories. I respect people who work hard to stop their addictive behavior in order to make their lives and the lives of the people they love better. Knowing that others have succeeded can bring hope to those who are trying to stop.
It is generally difficult for a person to do this without the assistance of other people. There are 12-step programs for all types of addictions that help people stop the behavior and also provide ongoing support to decrease the chances of them starting again. For some people, doing individual work with a therapist is what helps most. Others have found the help they needed by attending a residential treatment program. No matter what type of assistance is provided, it is the person who has the addiction who does the difficult work of taking the steps toward sobriety; he or she perseveres.
Perseverance is a quality that is essential to living life well. Although in this post I’ve focused on the difficulties of addiction, perseverance is needed to deal with every type of challenge. Life naturally gives us challenges, and doing our best to make the right choices, to have courage as we follow through on those choices, and to accept the suffering that often accompanies doing the right thing all require perseverance. And when we’ve made it through that period of difficulty by doing what we knew was right, we will have grown as individuals.