When many people hear the word "addiction", they consider it a word limited to people who overuse drugs, alcohol, and maybe caffeine. Most people don't think they have an addiction, it's a word to describe those "other people".
The addicts, the alcoholics, the hippies, the communists--it's a negative word directed at people who use or overuse something that a person doesn't like.
The truth of the matter is, everyone, to some degree has some kind of addiction.
Some people are addicted to perfection, attention, food, shopping, games, sugar, and even emotional states like depression or highs from adrenaline. Some people are addicted to the status quo, others to drama and change. We define ourselves by what we want to see about ourselves.
This week, I was doing an activity in a class about my history of addictive behaviors. Seriously, when the group leader pulled that out, I was thinking, "Yeah, cuz I'm totally an addict...what on earth is the point if this?"
Fact of the matter is, the closer I looked at what I was being asked to think about, the more I realized that I just never considered that addiction was simply a need for something in my life. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that addiction wasn't always necessarily a bad thing.
In my case, a few very poignant things did stick out that I'm going to need to work through. I'm doing well now, but historically, I have tendencies toward overeating, developing dependent relationships, and overuse of caffeine when I am stressed. On a good side, as long as I don't let it go too far, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and if I start exercising, I do tend to get a little addicted to the physical activity.
The key with our addictions (or tendencies if you like that word better), is to be aware of them and be able to recognize when they're going too far. If something you're addicted to starts affecting your ability to function in other aspects in your life, that's when I would say it's serious. Otherwise, just being aware of yourself and keeping those tendencies in check leads to a healthier, happier lifestyle.
Am I there yet? No. I am glad to be working on it though--I see a much brighter future.
You make an excellent point. Addiction is much more than negative obsessions. I was shocked to encounter, in a book I recently read, the author's assertion that love can become an addiction. But, the more I reflected upon this, the more I realized that love is - perhaps - the strongest addiction there is. The author, Eckhart Tolle, notes the danger in seeking, and relying upon, a love outside us, rather than the love within us. His claim is not that relationships are bad, but rather that we should not invest so much of our ego in them, and should not define ourselves by them. I think you are right to compare addictions and dependency.
ReplyDeleteAlso, although I do not identify as Buddhist, I strongly identify with the Buddhist philosophy that the source of suffering is desire. Perhaps additions could be defined - at least in part - as the things for which we have an insatiable desire, and which therefore cause us suffering.
This in an interesting topic to think about. Thanks for making me think, LK.
- Erin