I watched “Ray” the other night. The movie portrayed Ray Charles as having a rich and courageous life. He battled Heroin for many, many years. I was particularly moved by a scene of him in rehab when he had a vision (or perhaps a visit) from his mother and little brother who had died years earlier. In the vision they loved him up and released him from guilt he had carried all of his life. I couldn’t help but think that this closure is what gave him the strength to stand on his own two feet without heroin for the rest of his life.
So many of us use addictive behavior to mask our pain – what would happen if we just got rid of the pain?