Sunday, August 19, 2012

Addictive personalities and hedgehogs

Do you have an addictive personality? I'm pretty sure I do, in fact I'm pretty sure most of us do at some stage in our lives. Some of us can control it, some of us can't. My latest addiction luckily does not threaten to control or destroy my life and I've proven that I can control it when I need or want to.

Previously though I was a smoker for many years and gave up - I've been nicotine free for 12 months and two weeks now. I recently gave up sugar and that was hard - but I'm now 18 days sugar free.

The big addictions like alcohol, gambling and even more criminally based addictions are the ones which have the power to control and destroy lives. The definition of an addiction "is a physical or psychological dependence on a substance or behavior. It's the inability to stop an activity that is threatening your health, lifestyle, livelihood, or relationships"

For a while there I also had an unbalanced need to constantly be on my computer - blogging, reading blogs, commenting, Facebook, Twitter. I've cut all of that back to maintain more of a balance but I do still have one addiction - luckily it's fairly harmless and manageable.

So I admit it, I'm a book addict. Hubby used to moan about the sheer number of books I would bring home and how they overflowed the bookcase and took up valuable space in the house. Then he bought me a Kindle for Mothers Day.

Amazon is a very dangerous tool for a book lover who owns a Kindle, it does have the added bonus that he can't see the number of books that I purchase now, he can only see the gift card balances applied to my Amazon account which show on our credit card statement. But books for .99 cents and $2.99 are a booklovers dream.

The downside - I go on Amazon to check out an author or a book that I've seen recommended somewhere and bam I buy another 2 or 3 books.No waiting for delivery, no having to visit the shop. Click a button and it's done.

At least this addiction will broaden my knowledge, educate me more and entertain all at the same time. Not to say that I won't discover more addictions during this lifetime.

So do you have an addiction, is it manageable or controlling your life? Do you even want to change it or are you happy as it is?

Cheers, Fi

Finally....my share for this week - because first it made me say 'oohhhhh' at how cute and then it made me laugh at the last line. My mum finds the most amazing stuff about 'life'


Fable of the Hedgehog

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold.

The Hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

The moral of the story is: 
 
Just learn to live with the pricks in your life!
 Go on - laugh - you know you want to!

5 comments:

  1. Unfortunately I can't always take credit for finding the life "stuff" - it's usually been sent to me! I get heaps of "things" but I only pass on those that I think you'll appreciate.

    I agree about the Kindle - I've always read a lot but this is so much easier, just slip it inside your bag. I love it! Hopefully we'll have another convert today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I'm laughing : ) And I have to add that I think I have a new, "Most adorable thing I've seen in my life!"

    Have you ever checked out Goodreads.com? If you are addicted to books it can become ..an addiction.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL -- the hedgehog fable is priceless.

    and yes.... I too have an issue with going to Amazon.

    ReplyDelete

Everyone has something valuable to say and I would love for you to share your thoughts