Addiction

To me, addiction is a very interesting thing. I think a lot of people only consider it to mean a dependence on substances, such as alcohol, drugs, caffeine or nicotine. I disagree. To me, an addiction can be considered anything that you feel an insatiable drive to do repeatedly, whether it be eating, watching TV, compulsively updating your Twitter page every two minutes....there are people addicted to shopping, people who are addicted to certain behaviors (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), people addicted to sleep, people addicted to obtaining things (such as hoarders), and yes, I believe there are even people who are addicted to Drama and Misfortune.

I think the saddest part about the people who fall into the last category is that they don't even realize they have a problem, and neither does anyone else. It has become such a standard to dwell on the bad things happening in life. You ask "How are you?" and the standard reply will almost certainly be "Tired." "Hot." "Freezing." At the best, you might get a grudging "oh, I'm all right." Why is this?

Well, I know why it started. Back before we really started individualizing ourselves as humans we always had to be on the lookout for danger. It was a survival instinct to always have the Bad at the forefront of our minds so we could keep ourselves safe. It's instinct, and there's really nothing wrong with instinct. In certain situations, instinct can save your life. (I really need a ride home, but there's something about this person that makes me uncomfortable. I can't put my finger on it, but maybe I better wait and find someone else.)

However,I don't really feel that instinct is an excuse for dwelling in negativity. We as civilized humans have learned to suppress so many other instincts, such as the instinct to steal for personal gain, to fight or kill opposition, or to simply take what we want from a partner instead of bothering with a relationship or even politeness. We have come a long way from where we started, but dwelling on negativity is something that people don't even recognize as an issue even though it's been proven again and again that stress is terrible for your health, relationships, and overall quality of life.

And yet, it's not even the dwelling part that makes me want to lock myself away from humanity. It's the dwelling without searching for a solution. It would be one thing if you said "My financial situation really sucks." and then moved right along to "I really need to focus on what the core issue is so I can make things better." Instead, for example, we have the diabetic who drinks nothing but soda and doesn't eat healthily, and then when you ask how he is he goes into a full-scale rundown on how he's going blind, so he went to the doctor and they gave him a shot in his eye but they gave him too much so one of his blood vessels in his eye popped so now he can't see anything out of that eye and his good eye is halfway swollen shut and they haven't even TOUCHED that one yet because he doesn't have money for the operation because he just bought two of the new touchscreen phones.....you know the type.

Another example is the guy who doesn't exercise at all. He's either hunched over the computer with his right arm stretched over the mouse for hours a day, and when he's not he's hunched over a portable computer making very little movement. His right shoulder and back start to hurt, so someone suggests that he try gently rotating it a couple times day, first one way, then the other, and work his way up to once an hour. She kindly tries to explain that, chances are, his shoulder hurts because it is completely immobile for ten hours a day and he's probably building up calcium deposits or, at the very least, losing muscle tone and weakening the tendons. He makes a noncommittal noise without looking away from the computer and, a couple hours later, makes the same complaint.

I don't understand these kinds of people. If there's a problem that you could easily fix with minutes out of your day, wouldn't you want to? Isn't that better than living in pain, followed by depression because you never feel good? Maybe I'm too much of an optimist.I've had my share of issues and I've solved every one I've come across so far. I suppose it's possible that I actually have it better than everyone around me and their issues are vastly superior to mine, but I somehow doubt it. Just as there will always be someone who has it worse than you, there will always be someone who has it better.

Speaking of addictions, I've been feeding mine and I have a LOT of second-hand craft materials to go through, so I'm going to wrap this up for now. I'm sure this will be a subject that I'll touch upon later though, as I haven't even covered half of my opinion on this matter. ^_^


For now, this is your mission should you choose to accept it; the next time you find that you are wallowing in self-pity, take a deeper look into the issue. Is that really what's causing you upset, or is there a bigger issue behind it? Is there anything that you can do to alter that unfortunate state, no matter how small? If there is any small step you can take, I dare you to take it. And if it's completely out of your hands, sit back and take things as they come, one small bite at a time. If you remain calm and deal with the smaller issues first, you will eventually whittle your problem down to nothing. Take it from someone who knows from experience.