Soft addictions

Hi guys,

I found this article on one of the blogs that I follow. I think it fits really well with the our previous discussions about our rocks in life. The author is not coming from a christian perspective, but I still think she raises some good points and give us food for thought.

Soft Addictions

by loveandfat

Do you love a certain show(s) and watch it religiously? Are you compelled to check Facebook first thing in the morning? Are you always holding a cup of coffee? Do you NEED to shop? Are you a little too good at video games?

These behaviors are actually considered soft addictions — a term coined by Judith Wright to describe “activities, moods or ways of being, avoidances, and things-edible and consumable but which do not pose a grave health disease risk – rather, they have the most effect on personal time and productivity.”

Apparently, over 90% of Americans have soft addictions and I’m not surprised by that statistic at all. I know I enjoy my excessive Internet browsing as much as the next person… and my fiance and I always turn on a movie when we eat dinner together. It’s just what we do to relax.

But then I thought, “How much more could I get done if I stopped watching movies every night and stopped checking facebook every morning?” I bet it’s a lot.

But then I think, “Hey, I need to relax, too!”

So, there’s a little battle going on in my head about the benefits of relaxation vs. productivity. Am I escaping reality when I really need to dig in and get something done?

I know there’s so much more to this topic but I just want to throw these questions out there:

1. What are your soft addictions?
2. Why do you do them?
3. Is it possible that they’re going beyond stress relief so that they’re problematic to your health or happiness?
4. Could you make a small change to your habits so you have more control over the compulsion?

I hope this gets us all thinking about what our soft addictions are and how we can make better use of our time.

~Becky