Addictions make the world vibrate. The main difference between them is that some kill you faster than others. Other than that the principles are exactly the same – you want to get more and more of the same thing to produce a certain effect.
A while ago I was looking to buy a computer tablet to get away from the desk and brainwash myself while giving a chance to my ecto parts to rest in bed. Naturally, I went online and started researching the offers of the local stores. Then, I began watching reviews of the specific models I had chosen. One of the guys doing product presentations opened the box of a tablet and said something that later found itself in my notebook – “I’ve opened 100s of boxes, and yet every time I experience euphoria,” he said.
I remembered this statement because it reveals the principle behind addiction – every time you buy a new product, you experience a high that keeps you buying and opening new packages.
Some people consider shopping a modern form of hunting. You find an item (target) and then you begin researching. When you are ready, you pull the trigger and order it. Nowadays, we buy mostly from the Internet. This adds another element – the waiting part.
Many buyers feel like kids the week before Christmas. Every day you check your mail, hoping that your new trophy has arrived. Sooner or later, it’s on your working desk. Some people use a knife or scissors to open the package while others prefer the savage approach and tear right through it. Those individuals behave like impatient vampires who want to consume their victim as fast as possible – no waiting. When you finally see your new acquisition for the first time, you experience a climax. You’ve won. The victim is in front of you – dead. It’s yours now. The hunting is over, and you can go home and eat for a day or two. A few weeks pass before it’s all forgotten. Your new acquisition is a given. It’s not exciting anymore. You are hungry again. You need something else – a new victim, a new high.
For people with a perpetual amount of coins, this cycle can transform into a never-ending vicious hobby while for others with less money it can be an economic seppuku. Having said that, I am not against buying things as long as you can afford them without going into debt, and you truly find a function for them in your life.
The same core principle applies to other more advanced addictions. You can be addicted to everything, including spiritual experiences.
Believe it or not, some people are addicted to helping others and making them happy. Obviously, this is not the most popular addiction in the world, but it does exist. Without a shadow of a doubt, I don’t have a similar problem, but I have seen others who do. Very often it’s the result of a built-in perpetual guilt. Some humanoids feel guilty for breathing and self-torture themselves while giving away to other people and/or animals.
A simple example would be somebody who squats down and donates a few bucks to a beggar on the street. It makes you feel good inside, and your deep internal guilt diminishes for a moment. This is also a form of addiction even though it’s seemingly not as selfish as getting high for example. Nevertheless, it still proves that our actions are simply a part of different cycles that end with a few moments of inner peace.
Regardless of who you are, you will be addicted to something that will become your master one way or another. What is your choice – a slow or a fast killer?
There are many idiots out there who call themselves collectors. They collect things that may or may not be functional. Recently I watched a few videos on YouTube of a watch guy. The man has watches worth more than everything I own. He is one of those brain dead snobs who can’t stop spending money. However, since he is a wealthy dude, he gets away with it to a certain degree. But guess what? It never ends. In every video, he wants more and more. At the core of this experience is the fact that his hobby does not involve doing anything other than searching and buying. Obviously, he is not making those watches himself and is just a consumer/sponsor. This cheapens the experience.
Lifting weights, on the other hand, requires you to get involved and use verbs other than “have” or “get”. You don’t need a ton of money to go to the gym or the local park to receive the high that training can provide. Ultimately, training produces a satisfaction superior to the one derived from polishing watches or jewelry that is too expensive to wear outside of your own bathroom. Therefore, bodybuilding and lifting weights, in general, have the potential to be a more elevated form of addiction because you have to be a doer.
Of course, bodybuilding can quickly turn into an unhealthy addiction too because it’s a great ego food. There are bodybuilders who get super attached to their musculature and its effect. This diminishes the spiritual side of the training experience. You begin with a small dose, get some new muscle, and then you up the dose over and over again to mute your ego and experience the same pleasure again.
A decade later you may find yourself taking grams of muscle elixirs while shaking that thong in front of thousands of people. When does it stop? The answer of modern bodybuilding is never. “Juice till you die,” is a motto that fits the whole activity really well.
The “constantly wanting more” mechanism is natural for our human nature. As the old cliché goes “you always want what you cannot have”. This principle is partially responsible for all human based progress. You are never satisfied. You always want more. That’s how the “more” addiction operates. You can try to shut it down, but as long as your heart is beating, it will be there. It’s a part of you. You can try to control it, but you cannot cut it out. Some consider it an imperfection while others see it as a driving force needed to succeed.
In conclusion
Bodybuilding and lifting weights could transform into a scary and expensive addiction completely consuming your life if you choose to play the size and ego game. Nonetheless, the activity has the potential to be one of the healthier addictions that kill you slowly.
My observations say that balance is the key to a longer life with optimal functioning. You have to decide what you want. Some prefer to go all in (YOLO) and sell their soul to feed their addiction while others are able to see through and seek equilibrium.
Even if both movies end the same way, the story line is what counts the most anyway.
What do you want yours to be?
Great points here. I struggle at times with finding a balance between spending time with my family (wife, two young children) vs. the urge/desire to stick to my program and train whenever a free hour avails itself, chasing the spiritual high that a shock to the CNS can bring. I admit I come with an addictive personality; it has caused friction at times in my relationship with my wife. Better than cocaine, though.