175.0 Trading Addictions

I really believe that most of us if not all of us either are addicted to certain things like food, wine, etc., or activities like talking on the phone, hobbies that we can't put down, even exercise, and so on.

Over the past two and a half years I think I've traded in my food and wine addictions for some much lower calorie addictions, but addictions all the same. My iPhone has become inseparable from me. I am constantly checking my email on it or playing Scrabble on it, or on a really slow day, checking the weather in all the various places my relatives live. I take it to bed with me and when I have my bouts of insomnia, I check my email again. It's amazing what stuff I get in the middle of the night and that I read it. Most are efforts to get me to buy things. So far, my addiction hasn't included buying as a result of reading all about these very special deals.

No, none of this is perilous to my health, physical or mental, but I wonder what life would be like if/when I could be free of my dependence on my iPhone to make me feel connected and alive.

Have I always been addicted to outside forces to help me navigate life? Are we all? Maybe the word addiction is a little harsh, but you know what I mean. And, to be honest, the iPhone addiction hasn't totally usurped the place of food in my life. I will battle that addiction forever, but it is a lot easier now to just say no.

So what use do these addictions have for me in my life? Could it all be about distractions from really living, facing life, being in the thick of it, rather than eating, drinking, and... oops, gotta go check my email!