04/05/2026
I watched a YouTube episode about investing. It said that the most important thing for an investor is to have psychological discipline: not to buy or sell based on emotions, desires, or even fear. Commitment and discipline in your choices are the foundation of success.
From the previous group discussions, we spoke about several points. In this post, I want to talk about two important ones.
1. Each one of us needs to have a “wild side” inside. We often miss that part of ourselves. Sometimes, even when we are living calmly, doing well, and succeeding in society, we say to ourselves: “Do these people around me think I’m too soft, too innocent, or too respectable? They don’t know that wild side in me.” And we start missing the chance to act on it.
2. During relapse, we miss two things: the randomness of life, and the feeling that we are in control of every detail of our life. This is a bit complicated.
When someone stops drinking or using, people tell them: wake up at this time, sleep at this time. If they have a job, they dress the way work expects them to dress. They go to work at a certain time and leave when work finishes. They have fixed holidays. They may feel that life is controlling them in one way or another.
Even when they take a holiday to go out or travel, it is still planned. Even simple activities, like going to a café or the cinema, need arrangements.
But during drinking or using, life feels completely under their control. They feel they can control every detail, and even make life as random as they want. Whatever comes to their mind, they just go and do it.
When I listened to that investment episode, I thought about this group. The truth is that the most important thing a recovering addict invests in is their own life and time before anything else.
When they enter treatment, they spend time.
When they drink or relapse, they spend time.
When they stop but without real recovery, they also spend time.
But once they start real recovery, they begin to invest that time in something useful. And if they continue investing, their resources grow. They start to see real change in their life.
It is like someone investing in the stock market and keeping shares in successful companies. Over time, the investment grows, and the return increases.
But someone who relapses again and again is like a person who keeps selling their shares at a loss every time the market goes down, then buys them again at a higher price when the market goes up.
The problem is that every time, they start from the beginning again. They lose years, time, money, and health. So each new start becomes harder.
I think the idea that “there is no enjoyment without randomness” is just a thought that eventually becomes a core belief. And this belief can pull the addicted person back to drinking or using, especially after months or years of recovery.
I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
