The Hidden Addiction No One Talks About (And How It’s Killing Your Potential)
Most people don’t even realise what they’re sacrificing in the name of comfort.
I think we are all living lives of quiet desperation because we are constantly telling ourselves that one day we are going to face our demons. We are going to face ourselves. We are going to do the inner work… but first we need to obtain this and attain that. I think we are living in our own worlds of cheap excuses because we are deeply terrified of actually facing the nature of who we really are. We don’t want to find out that we are pure unconditional love, because if that’s the case, then we can no longer hold onto the comfort of all the gossip, lies, followers, likes, and external validation that the ego cannot get enough of.
It would be hell for the ego to no longer be able to control by making you constantly want to chase these things. How many ancient teachers have told us to stop chasing the pleasures of the world? Yet we are consuming and consuming at levels never heard of. We cannot get enough of consuming, even when we know it is absolute brain rot doom-scrolling content. We are being rewired into zombies. There is no one else to blame but ourselves. Our unwillingness to sit with ourselves and to really listen to our demons and to our fears, dreams, and insecurities makes us easy prey for algorithms that don’t even know who we are, but sell our attention for big stacks of money.
We are stuck in traps trying to buy instant fixes for problems that demand us to really have a good look at ourselves. There is no new diet, device, tool, gadget, course, retreat, or online coach that is ever going to be able to completely deal with the pains in your soul. This pain comes from the constant oppression of your own desire to not only express your deepest gifts, but to also express love to yourself and those around you.
Unconditional love makes the ego scream and shout in fear. It hates it. If you were to love unconditionally and forgive yourself and others, then the ego is no longer needed. The idea of its death puts it into overdrive, and it convinces you that the worldly pleasures are going to satisfy you eventually. When you know deep down in your heart that nothing is going to satisfy you except something that is beyond just this material realm.
How long are you going to let time go by as your death is getting closer and closer, without ever examining your deepest nature? To have a real good look at yourself. To listen to your heart. To ask it: where do you want to head? Don’t give me the excuses of trying to put food on the table and trying to just get by. I know these are real concerns that we must all deal with. However, if you have the blessing to have the time to even be reading this, I know that you have the time to examine yourself.
There is always a middle way, no matter how chaotic your life is. Some of us in this lifetime really never get an opportunity to follow our heart’s calling because of things like war and poverty. However, I’m talking to the lucky ones who are able to have the time to do so. To realise the gift you have been given. To wake up and to really listen. To do the inner work that you have been terrified to do.
There are things inside you that you know you could work on. You know you are attached to certain views, people, and beliefs. You know the negativity that is brewing inside you and is being channelled through endless doom-scrolling.
It would be such a shame if you died with your music still inside you. Your gifts never expressed. Sometimes I meditate on all the great talents people have that are never being developed for the greater good of humanity, because they are too busy scrolling on their phones or running away from themselves, because they are scared to look deeply inside.
I’m not asking you to do anything crazy, but to simply sit still in some moments. To begin listening to your heart. To your mind. To your soul. To your spirit. There are things that a deeper part of you wants to tell you, and you keep drowning out the voice of this beautiful wisdom through your fear.
Your existence is such a miracle.
Please don’t waste it.
Some of your greatest work—like healing relationships with your friends, family, and enemies—is not as far away as you think. Accomplishing fulfilling work and achieving your dreams is close by too. Most of all, you reaching your most unconditional and loving state of mind, full of peace no matter what situation you are in, is possible too.
You don’t know what you have inside you, and the ability you have to greatly benefit people in your community and life, until you truly listen to yourself.
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It helps others find this work and keeps me writing slow, honest pieces like this.
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Have you ever healed with nature?
Or sat with silence after heartbreak?
I’d love to hear what it taught you.
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May you walk in peace,
— Matt
Modern Monk