I don’t have all the answers, heck, I don’t even have a thousandth of the answers; but when it comes to each and every one of our respective paths, I am certain that we all have the answers we need within ourselves. We just have to find them. That’s what the demons on our path help is to do. The angels are always there to make sure we don’t get dead.
We all have our respective path. Sometimes, those paths lead us to places that we may not understand at first. There is, however, a reason and a purpose for everything in our path, including those things that we have to face that are difficult or scary. I’ve seen a lot of suffering in my work with addiction; a lot of pain caused by the abuse of substances. While this pain may be a demon that taunts all of those who do all they can for the afflicted, it’s best to see that demon as a potential teacher. For me, the demons I’ve encountered on my own path have showed me far more than the angels have. The angels are just nicer to be around.
One of the things that I try to get across to people is that I may not understand someone’s situation, but it’s not for me to judge that situation as good or bad. The simple truth that something exists within a person’s life means to me that that something was supposed to be on someone’s path. Even if that existing thing is an addiction to black tar heroin, I have no doubt that it’s supposed to be the way it is.
The reason I’m so sure is that I’ve seen, several times, people placing themselves into the same exact situation, over and over again. The specifics may change, but the boiled-down situation is always the same. For example, I’ve seen women end up in relationships with the same type of man, again and again. That man may be abusive or he may be addicted to something or another, but the situation is always oppressive to the woman. I believe that a woman in that repeating situation is meant to be in that situation until she figures out whatever it is she’s supposed to learn from that situation. There’s no difference to me between the woman in oppressive situations and someone who relapses over and over again. His or her return to substances, or porn, or gambling, or whatever the heck else we can get addicted to, is meant to happen until he or she learns whatever it is he or she is supposed to learn.
It’s not my place or your place or his place or her place to judge someone who may be struggling to learn whatever life is trying to teach through a demon. It is my place, however, to try and guide that struggling person to a place of, first recognition of the situation and, second, provide him or her with tools such that they can process the situation and interpret it. Once they’ve recognized and interpreted the situation, then it’s a matter of changing the situation and eliminating the demon.
