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Grant Shillings's avatar

I can relate to this in a lot of ways. I never did any drugs and I’ve never drank alcohol, but that’s because I knew I was an addict even at age 13, and I knew if I tried them, I would end up in a ditch somewhere— like my family member did.

Still, I sacrificed many weekends to binging video games, junk food, and pornography. It was never just one hour, but it would always turn into 2, then 4, then 48. By the end (or honestly even halfway through) I wasn’t having any fun anymore and was just annihilating the time because I was too ashamed to do anything else at that point.

Those binge sessions are still enticing to me (the good parts— somehow I frequently forget the headaches and shame and cetera) but I’ve found something better. Something that feels more like paragliding around Hawaii than racing motorcycles across the Isle of Mann (then crashing them). Less thrilling, more serene.

But there are thrills too, and I believe I feel them more deeply now than I would have before. Little things, like watching the sunrise with my coffee out on the porch, reading a beautiful passage in a book (or a Substack), talking to a pretty girl, laughing with my friends.

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Stefano Miele's avatar

Great read Jeff!

As you say, these things don't contribute to the person you want to become, so you're better off eliminating them completely.

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