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  1. bookbear expressAva3/2/2116 min
    10 reads7 comments
    9.0
    bookbear express
    10 reads
    9.0
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    • bill
      Top reader of all time
      2 years ago

      Oh lord. I wasn’t expecting to gobble this whole thing up, but - sure enough - I just downed the whole thing. I read a lot about addiction (because I struggle with it) but I had never heard about this concept of “hungry ghosts.” Brilliant. A helpful tool for the toolkit.

      My own addiction saga — alcohol -> social media (specifically fb, followed by insta) -> work (and not the good kind of work, but meaningless corporate jobs I didn’t care about) -> marijuana -> dating apps & sex — is a major part of my life story. I’m nowhere near home free, but I am home and I am free. And I’m getting better at giving the hungry ghost the middle finger. For that, I owe a big thanks to reading and the reading community we have here on Readup.

      The dopamine hit of posting something meaningful and personal (like this post that you’re reading right now) is quite a rush. All things considered, it’s a really easy way to flush the hungry ghost down the toilet... for a little while at least.

      • annie2 years ago

        Excellent read. I think the pandemic has given us an opportunity to better recognize our hungry ghosts and figure out healthier ways to get those dopamine hits.

      • DellwoodBarker2 years ago

        💰🌞💎 Paragraphs #2 & #3 Are Gold 💎🌞💰

    • scotthilliernyc2 years ago

      thanks for posting @christina. i needed this.

      • bill
        Top reader of all time
        2 years ago

        And thank you for posting, @scotthilliernyc. I need this

    • DellwoodBarker2 years ago

      When you feel love for him and think that you could probably accept almost anything just to have him back, that’s you trying to love and accept yourself fully, for the first time.”

      You can never get enough of what you don’t need. But what you want always points towards what you need, just not in the way you think it does. You feel empty and you feel bored; you think you need more external stimulation to stop feeling that way. But if you rely on something external to feel better you'll never be able to regulate your own emotions without it.

      Remind yourself: I am looking for reassurance that can’t be given. I am looking to fill an emptiness that I have to learn to accept.

      You already have what you need. But you’ll never find it if you spend your entire life looking for it everywhere it’s not.

    • chrissetiana
      Top reader of all time
      2 years ago

      You can never get enough of what you don’t need. But what you want always points towards what you need, just not in the way you think it does.