There's a classic joke where this guy walks into the doctor's office:
Patient: Doctor, I hurt all over.
Doctor: What do you mean?
Patient: Look!
(touches knee) - Ouch!
(touches elbow) - Ouch!
(touches shoulder) - Ouch!
Doctor: You have a sprained finger.
This joke/parable applies to us too.
Life sometimes hurts.
We complain that it's because of this reason, or because of that, etc...
We try to survive, but finally we fall back into our "medicating"...
It's not life that hurts.
It's not the circumstances that hurt.
It's us that hurt.
It's us that are feeling a void.
We must stop living in "survival mode".
Who can relax and "feel" when they are always trying to survive??
Accept to just LIVE LIFE - with all that comes along with it.
The ideas I share I learned from my therapist, and from people like Dov on the forum.
Sometimes people who are wiser than us take us on a completely different path than we expected, or that we're used to.
They tell us to go left when we feel like going right.
The Messilas Yesharim says that the only people who we can really trust are those who have gotten out of life's maze.
When it comes to Torah (and life), we need to listen to our Rabbanim.
With addiction, we need to listen to those who have truly beaten it.
Follow their path.
You won't be sorry.