DAY 235 - WHAT ARE YOU ADDICTED TO?

Day 235

Today, I was talking about addictions to a friend who wants to quit smoking  When I stopped, more than 15 years ago, I remember thinking it was going to be hard.  I couldn't imagine myself not smoking for the rest of my life... I enjoyed it so much, especially in the morning with a nice cup of coffee, or at night with an exotic cocktail!

At the time, it was so hard to quit.  Everywhere I went: bars, restaurants, even airplanes, people smoked.   And that's without mentioning the fact that most of my friends were smokers... So, I was constantly exposed to temptation.

In order to be successful in quitting, every time I got the urge to smoke, I told myself I wouldn't have that particular cigarette, but that maybe I'd smoke the next one.  Day after day, I repeated that to myself until the urge slowly dissipated.

I think that one of the problems with addictions is that they impede on your freedom.  And I certainly don't want to be a slave to anything or anyone?

Some addictions have a real negative impact on mental and physical health: drugs, gambling, alcohol, overeating and tobacco, for instance.  But contrarily to popular belief, they come in various forms and many of us suffer from some level of addiction without realizing it.  Workaholics, for instance, compulsive exercise fanatics or love addicts are all examples of addictions that could be hard to detect.

An addiction is when you engage in an activity that generates a feeling of euphoria, or a “high" created by the release of brain chemicals.  You then develop an uncontrollable need to have that feeling over and over again.

We live in a world that views excitement as being a synonym of happiness!  And addictions provide people with that instantaneous rush. No wonder they believe it will make them happy.  The problem is, the high is inevitably followed by a low...

So, seeing that we cannot live our lives entirely on a "high",  it's our whole definition of happiness that needs to change.  We need to shift our perception and start focusing on achieving balance and inner peace, which sounds really boring, but is more likely to create a long-lasting feeling of well-being.

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