People who are prone to addictions of any kind, what keeps you going knowing there are grave consequences in what you do?

I used to move from one addiction to the next. I see it as a fire that you cover with a cloth but the flames appear again from the sides...
You need to find and fight the root in order for this burning energy to soothe down.
For me it's been practicing self love in many ways but I've had to hit rock bottom (my interpretation of it) many times before that.

I hit rock bottom in an environment i could not control. Everything in my life was being destroyed. Drugs were abundant and just a regular thing. Eventually the depression from the constant stress lead me to bandaid the feelings wich i could not deal with in my daily life. It kind of creeps up on you. The next thing you know you need the drugs to cope and it feels like its the only way to manage through your day. Even if things sort of get better the drugs become such a habit that you almost feel like you rely on it to survive. It keeps you in a state that you cant escape from while the drugs are around. The drugs keep bad people in your life. Your environment never changes. You continue living without control because even if youve lost everything youve loved, you are a slave to it until you have the strength to overcome it and break free. If you manage to survive, you become stronger than you have ever thought because the amount of will power required is almost unimaginable at the time. Though the damage it caused is never worth it.

My AA group.

I used to be very addicted to Monster. I have a bad heart now from all those years, so I don't drink it anymore for the most part. I do sometimes if I didn't get any sleep, but it really hurts my heart. And Idk why I do it. Maybe just to get through my shift, Idk.

my parent’s drinking issue as a child was enough motivation for me to make sure I never touch a drink

Humans are complex beings, our minds work differently especially social wise. While in the animal kingdom addiction is.. most certainly uncommon humans adapted the trait and its downsides as you said before. That being said in my addiction.. knowing the risk of everything i built up, it's worth it to hear her say "i love you". Sure she might not always be there when i need her, or is stupid busy most of the time anyway, but she truly is my addiction and i want her to know that no matter what im still by her side. That i love her more than she could ever understand. The long term damages may risk so much but i don't care, shes worth it even for the catastrophic end if things go wrong

It's an emotional dependency. I've quit smoking a few times, once for 2 years, then 3 times for a couple of weeks each.

Each time I was left feeling very depressed, because of my circumstances and because it was what was keeping me emotionally on keel. So right now I want to stop, but I have a job, I'm starting studies, driving test and my living situation isn't ideal.

So it's not a good time. I always worry about diseases and dying from related illnesses, but I feel like i can't cope without it. Sometimes addiction is a symptom of life.

The fact that it's my sole strategy for so many of my needs and my body is used to it and it's been what I've turned to in order to survive so it has a very self soothing familiar effect too.

To realize I can't just stop over night is the first step of growth. It's more likely that I will relapse for the rest of my life, but, the goal isn't to stop the goal is to prevent starting and if it still happens, cope with the consequences with self compassion instead of guilt and shame.

Yes, this is my addiction

Addiction is not addiction though. You can have substantial addictions harming your body, and non-substantial addictions except for self-harming one's are rather just addictions.

I take frequent breaks, constantly set limits, and make plans to only do it during a specific window, rather than whenever I feel like it.

My child

I didn't give it a great deal of thought. I knew one day I would quit. I wasn't going to end like that.