The Swamp

Contributed by Andrew Love

There is a place where we often find ourselves. It is a horrible place that we wouldn’t wish upon our worst enemies, yet we castigate ourselves there daily.

This is not a place we can see, only feel. But boy-oh-boy does it FEEL real.

I’m talking about a special hell that we create for ourselves when we allow our minds to take the reins. Just like leading an animal right into a trap, we lead ourselves step by mental step towards the swamp of our soul with each unconscious decision we make to focus on negative emotions.

Left unchecked, our minds act like a child surrounded by too much junk food, completely unable to control itself and indulging until the pangs of its lack of discipline become painfully present.

So easily are our minds fooled. So easily do we trick our hearts. Yet the soul always pays the price.

When was the last time you said:

“I swear, this is the last time I’m going to…” (fill in the blank)

or

“I’m going to…” (hit the gym, stop watching porn, pray more, etc)

Or etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

When we go against the desires of our soul, we begin to walk in the opposite direction from our destiny which in turn causes us co-exist with misery.

Pornography is one of the most common tools to help escape such pain in our modern world.

Due to its accessibility and the sheer power of the neurochemical response, porn offers your senses an immediate and poignant stimuli that can trick your brain into believing you are doing something important and your heart quickly follows suit. That’s how a person can easily become utterly enveloped by their experience with porn. Time can evaporate and before you know it, you have lost hours of time, much of your energy, and the self-lamenting voice starts whispering to your conscience.

That is the swamp.

It’s kind of like your mind and heart are fooled by a sleazy sales person—porn. It tricks them repeatedly into doing something the soul doesn’t want. And the more they get duped, the easier it is for them to fall for the same trick again and again.

The conscience is like the executive assistant of the soul. Instead of consulting with the conscience, when they are tricked, the mind and heart do whatever they can to justify their mistake until the very last moment.

The swamp is when the soul finally discovers what the mind and heart have done and it is very upset.

That is why during the road to recovery, it is our job to first consult with our conscience when temptation is knocking at our door. The conscience might be in a weakened state due to the many times it has been held ransom by your mind and heart, but it can grow strong again if it is fed love and attention.

The more you consult your conscience in difficult situations, the more it will guide you to where you REALLY want to go—towards your destiny.

Let your conscience be the boss and you will always end up in a good place. Feed it well and feed it often.