Addicted to Thrill?
December 1, 2014
I used to live a high life. What do I mean? I was what you would call a thrill SEEKER. If it made my heart race, and increased my adrenaline, I was all for it.
Those wild and crazy parties you heard about in college? I threw them.
The drugs and alcohol you were warned about? I did them.
The guy that many went after? I came. I saw. I conquered.
Then… I woke up empty. Yeah, it looked as if I had it ALL together. From the outside I had it going on. Young and free, right?! WRONG!
I was young, true, but I was bound, damaged and hurt. Angry at the world for dealing me such a crappy hand. So that fast life, I sought after it. Searching for a thrill to distract me from myself. I hated me. I hated who I was and what I allowed myself to become. I was blind and numb to the truth. The worst of it all is that in some warped reality, I actually believed I enjoyed this lifestyle that I had obtained. I thought it was who I was. I mean, I had all the world wrapped around my finger right? Wrong. The world had me so upside down that I didn’t know where veracity began and delusion ended. I was simply MESSED UP. Full of destiny, and worth and drowning in a bottle I thought gave me life.
It wasn’t until I recognized that my thrill seeking wasn’t only detrimental to me, but it had an underlying source. I had to FACE those skeletons that lay dormant awaiting resurrection. As Solomon warned us, “he that loves pleasure shall be a poor man,” I craved the pleasures of this world, and literally my life was decreasing in value day by day. A blissful falsehood that had become unrecognizable and purposeless.
Instead of going to God, I had chosen to pursue what was fascinating to my flesh for the moment. I was looking for a permanent fix, in a temporary pleasure. Instead of going to the one who created me, I tried to substitute Him, for a mere creation.
If you find yourself to be a thrill seeker, question what the origin is. You could be dying from a dormant virus, and treating it with a topical pain reliever. Allow God to be your source of healing. Fleeing to this world to heal hurt is like using Tylenol to treat a stab wound. You may not be able to feel the pain, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t bleeding out.
A cheap thrill, isn’t worth your destiny.
-Monique B.
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Proverbs 21:17,
“You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.
The catch of thrill is this: it’s temporary. After you got him in bed, cursed her out, proved your point, caught his eye, got drunk, or lead a rebellious streak…now what? This is the question that many of us don’t consider the answer to before we indulge in seeking temporary pleasure.
The addiction to thrill often stems from the need to fill a void. Either something is missing and we look to replace it with temporary thrills, or we seek the attention that indulging in these thrills brings us. Either way, we are left to deal with ourselves AFTER the thrill is gone. When you come down from your “high”, who do you have to talk to? What are your thoughts? What are you listening to? These are things that determine our next move.
Who do you have to talk to? Find a mentor or an accountability partner (see our YouTube video on The Importance of an Accountability Partner here). Talk to this person when you find yourself backtracking or getting anxious to seek another thrill.
What are your thoughts? Instead of thinking about the temporary pleasure you could have, think about the consequences. I know it can be hard to redirect your thoughts. This is where reading your Word comes in. Let His Word drown out those negative thoughts.
What are you listening to? Do you find yourself thinking about sex all the time? Do you listen to songs that talk about making love or just having sex all the time? There’s a correlation, sweetheart. No matter how strong you think you are, what goes in will always come out. Your life will reflect what you allow in your ears, mind, and eventually heart.
I’ll leave you with this scripture that our pastor shared with us yesterday.
1 Peter 4:3-5,
You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.
-Brianna R.