Self-medicating with fantasy becomes like a drug addiction.

Fantasy is a form of drug. It can be highly addictive and a way of self-medicating. Fantasy is for the purpose of escaping. When we’re not happy with things as they are, then a convenient escape is to go into fantasy of all kinds. Day dreaming is fantasizing. Here are some key points to contemplate:

• Fantasy acts like a drug in our mind.
• Drugs take us out of our reality, and that’s what fantasy does.
• Drugs help you forget what’s really going on and fantasy does the same thing – it transports you to a world where there are no consequences.
• Drugs and fantasy both leave you with a hangover of feeling that your life, as it is, isn’t so great – which just fuels the desire to escape more often, for longer periods of time.
• In fantasy, the body is the hero. It’s almost always in some way about a glorification of the physical existence.
• In fantasy, you usually are thinking that you’re very special – it’s rare to find someone who fantasizes about attaining enlightenment.

Since I teach about cultivating vision for your life, people ask me all the time about the difference between vision and fantasy. Here’s the difference:

In visioning you’re aligning with your Higher Holy Self to download the vision that’s already yours. The vision is of what you’re expanding into and what is your purpose and destiny. It doesn’t make you special, it’s your fulfillment. It’s the highest and best. It’s an expression of your true nature. Vision doesn’t involve what other people think of you – opinions aren’t a part of your vision.

When we go into fantasy, we are running from the NOW moment. Now is where the Love is and Love is the healer of every thing. Now is the only time there is. It’s always now. If you’re avoiding now, thinking about past or future, then you’re avoiding Love. Get back into the now and claim your healing!

Following up on the topic of sexual healing from yesterday, as we’re in a period of clearing out old patterns and habits that no longer serve our walk of Love, I invite you to pay attention to when you feel a pull to fantasy and what is the fantasy about. In my free How to Get Over It forgiveness workshop (available on the homepage at JenniferHadley.com) I share that it’s very common for people to continue to have sexual fantasies about former spouses, lovers, and partners, after a break up. Almost inevitably when people are having a really hard time getting over a break up, they’re still having sexual fantasies about their former partner, and that keeps them tied to them energetically. I recommend going cold turkey and giving it up. The pain of clinging and craving the former partner does NOT outweigh the pleasure of the sexual fantasy. It’s a trap.

Awareness is healing – it’s curative. You can help yourself enormously by asking simple questions:

• What’s the fantasy for?
• When do you most get triggered into escape through fantasy?
• How much of your day do you spend in fantasy?
• What are you fantasizing about?
• What’s your motivation for going into fantasy?

Since fantasy acts like a drug in so many ways, and we’re in a detox phase, a clearing and a cleansing, it’s really going to support your healing and expansion to give up the fantasy. You’ll be amazed at how quickly more changes will happen that bring more life into your life and then you don’t need fantasy anymore!

We’re looking for all the triggers to shine the light of Love onto them and bring the darkness to the light. We’re gaining the fire of momentum to burn away the attachments and cravings that keep us playing small.

I encourage you to share what you’re noticing about fantasy in our facebook group. The sharing has been so helpful and inspiring.

When people start making more loving, awakened and aware choices, they naturally stop self-medicating, and find themselves feeling better about themselves and that’s healing to our bodies – all healing is at the level of the mind. Making changes like the ones we’re doing in our Pray & Clear has a positive effect on our hormones, energy, vitality, radiance, Joy and happiness, and then the now moment becomes a pleasant place to be!

Again it comes back to being mindful of what’s motivating your choices in the moment. Mindfulness is a powerful, life-changing spiritual practice!

Spiritual practice SAVES time that would otherwise be spent in suffering.
Invest in spiritual practice rather than in suffering.

After just a few weeks of shifting your eating habits you ought to be feeling some noticeable differences in how you’re feeling. Your energy levels are probably coming closer to whatever is normal for you. More to come! It’s wonderful to discover for yourself that:

Nothing tastes as good as Joy feels!

On the cleanse side of life: Eating all raw isn’t for everyone, and it’s definitely not for me. I require mostly cooked food. During the cleanse I have been eating a cooked lunch every day. I drink hot herbal tea all day long. Raw isn’t better. We have different constitutions. Some people do great with raw, some people don’t. I’ve learned that eating lots of raw food and cold icy drinks will slow my metabolism down and play havoc with my digestive system. I do much better with hot liquids even on a hot day.

Here’s a delicious treat: I love herbs and I’ve found that my body loves herbal supplements and in my cooking. I have a special tea that I like to make and it’s herbs that must be cooked – simmered for about 30 minutes. I love to add fresh ginger in the pot. Ginger is CRAZY good for you – antioxidant and healing for the digestive system and so many other things! I take the cooked ginger from my herbal tea and chop it up and put it in my morning smoothie the next day! There’s not so much flavor left in it after it’s been simmered with my tea – and it adds GREAT fiber to the smoothie.

I cook with ginger A LOT because I love the taste of it and I know how good it is for me. It’s so easy to cut some up and add it to just about any dish your cooking – I do a lot of stir frying, so it really works for me!

If you’re finding what I’m sharing to be helpful won’t you please share at facebook and twitter to let others know? Thank you!

Come run away with me! Check out my Stop Playing Small Retreat this May in North Carolina! ALSO I’m offering my Spiritual Counseling Intensive Training again – check it out, also in May in North Carolina!