Did Moses come down from the mountain with an 11th Commandment: “Thou cannot resist thy cravings and thy compulsions so do your thang man?” I don’t think that came from Moses, but it is a widespread myth in today’s world.  Modern Myth #11 says: “Compulsions and cravings are uncontrollable.”

We hear it all the time: “I was born this way,” ”It’s genetic,” “He can’t help himself,” “That’s just the way I am,” — but are those statements true? Do human beings really have no choice but to meekly obey their desires and impulses? Of course not!

We humans have the ability to resist and to overcome any craving or “genetic tendency” that hits us. We are not irrational animals who have no choice but to obey our instincts.

We humans have a brain — we have the ability to make wise decisions about our behaviors. We have a free will — we have the power to freely choose our behaviors, independent of our manipulative compulsions.

However, it is very hard work to use our brain and our free will. It is so much easier (in the short-term) to just go with the flow of desire, to drift off the cliff of self-destructive cravings. So we embrace the denial that comes with Modern Myth #11 and say:  “I have no control over this desire. I am not responsible. It’s in my genes.” And we dance in our prison uniforms to the twisted tunes of our tendencies.