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Ned's avatar

Wholeheartedly agree with this: "The more you dedicate yourself it, the less attractive the default addictions become."

Started drinking less last year so I could wake up and hit the keyboard. That internal reward is just so much better than waking up hungerover (sometimes)

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Ned's avatar

Wholeheartedly agree with this: "The more you dedicate yourself it, the less attractive the default addictions become."

Started drinking less last year so I could wake up and hit the keyboard. That internal reward is just so much better than waking up hungerover (sometimes)

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Jeff Sullivan's avatar

Thank you, and that’s great. It was similar for me. The only times I wouldn’t write in the morning were when I was hungover, so the decision to stop drinking became easy because of my love for writing.

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Jonny Bates's avatar

Amen, man. I like your terms of default and positive addictions and the idea of swapping them. Still baffling how the default addictions are hardly recognized as such

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Jeff Sullivan's avatar

I’ve become increasingly disillusioned about how ingrained the belief is for many, including my past self, that the default addictions are part of, even seen as the key to the good life.

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Kathy Sullivan's avatar

Great article! Any positive behavior can easily become a habit or an addiction.

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Jeff Sullivan's avatar

Thank you, yes, like going on walks!

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Rick Lewis's avatar

Interesting piece. It seems like some people have addictive personalities, which can trend “positive” or “negative” and others just don’t lean toward extremes, which is ok. Sometimes I wish I were more like that! But I really love your definition of positive addictions.

“A positive addiction is something you do, not a drug you take. Something you do not to distract yourself, but to invigorate yourself. Something that you could tell the whole world about not with shame, but with honor. Something that makes your mind not duller, but sharper.²

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Jeff Sullivan's avatar

Thank you, Rick. Yes, I have an addictive personality. Much of this essay is a note to self. Many others of course have addictive personalities too, so I hope if they read this it can be useful.

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Grant Shillings's avatar

I like this idea, and I can relate to your “bum phase.”

My problem is that I do have a plethora of positive addictions and trying to balance them all seems to be the biggest problem: BJJ, Muay Thai, yoga, weightlifting, backpacking, running, biking, dancing, concerts, guitar, literature, cinema, video games, writing, storytelling, sciences, languages, motorcycles, cooking, medicine, firefighting, traveling, hanging with friends and family, and so many more.

The list seems endless and I’m always looking at it desperately trying to balance it all. How do I deal with this dilemma?

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