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I have a friend named Karen and she’s a self-confessed junk-food addict. She loves eating pizza and donuts for breakfast. Fried chicken and burgers are her favorite lunch while chocolate cake and ice cream serves as her mood stabilizers.
She wanted to eat healthy and despite knowing that eating junk food is not good for her, she still can’t seem to conquer her problem.
For vicious eaters like Karen, one can of soda a day is just right, two is too much, and three is never enough.
Karen told me that there are times when she tries to control it by just going to bed, turning off the lights in her room and pulling the blankets over her head. She uses her will power, however, it only lasts until her will convinces her that she could have another candy bar. Caramel, specifically.
About a month ago, one of our colleagues cracked a very funny joke during our quarterly meeting and made all of us laugh so hard except for Karen. We thought that she just didn’t get it, but it turned out she couldn’t move.
She told us that she was experiencing a painful burning sensation in the middle part of her abdomen and felt like it’s going to burst anytime. We all panicked. It was the weekend and the company nurse was off duty.
We asked the security guard for help and after 15 minutes, an ambulance arrived. I decided to go with them as they took her to a nearby hospital, where she was diagnosed with stomach acid imbalance. The doctor injected her with antacids and she started to feel better after 2 hours.
That incident was a wake up call for Karen. Slowly and in stages, she tried to overcome her addiction. I witnessed big improvements on her eating habits. She started going to the gym, too.
Her friends in the office were all very supportive of her. Aside from giving her positive reinforcements, they were also inspired to create a health campaign that encourages all employees to eat only vegetables at least once a week.
Aren’t we all addicted to something?
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Minor addiction is part of the human condition and we shouldn’t be too judgmental. It is just a matter of owning up to your personal poison.
In our relationships, for instance, we have all experienced being in love at some point in our lives. Most of us have stayed in bad relationships or repeatedly returned to an ex just because we don’t want to be alone.
In Andrea Bartz’s article in Cosmopolitan, she addresses women who are “addicted” to emotionally unavailable men to open their eyes and to stop making excuses for their guys.
Ladies, we shouldn’t waste our time loving and waiting for a man’s emotional availability to change!
These men are not ready to meet our needs so we should move on and continue dating until we meet the one who treats us right.
Also, there are workaholics. They consider work as the one significant and overriding activity in their life. They feel important when they’re busy and they take pleasure in its material gains.
I am a slight workaholic myself, but there is this one particular type, which I find most annoying – the micromanagers or the control freaks.
“If you’re a business owner doing a lot of hovering, either you’ve got the wrong people or you need an attitude adjustment.”
Micromanagement resembles addiction to power; it’s always needing to have excessive and extreme control and should be avoided at all costs.
“Should I go with pale pink or vampy violet?” asks the person in my 3rd category – the makeup addict.
Girl, if you can’t go out without wearing any makeup, then you are a certified beauty junkie!
Makeup makes me high, too. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to look nice and put together all the time. It only means we are always ready to face anyone, anywhere!
My beautiful sisters out there, here are tips that would save you time and help you look your best – “Secrets From a Makeup Artist: Quick Fixes for Makeup Mistakes.”
Slight to moderate makeup addiction is acceptable. It’s just natural for girls to love beauty products. However, too much of anything is bad. It is best to go on a makeup diet and give your face a breather from time to time.
Lastly, we have the group who considers the world’s favorite beverage a health drink – coffee addicts!
They experience a pounding headache when they try to stop or don’t get their daily dose of coffee, which is obviously not healthy and needs to be cut out.
Check this out – “This New Bracelet Allows You to Absorb Caffeine Straight Through Your Skin.”
It works like a nicotine patch, only it’s a band that delivers caffeine into the bloodstream. Cool, right?
These minor addictions are not a disease but rather a form of habit and sometimes, a source of gratification. Too much of anything can destroy us. So whatever our drug of choice is, be it love, work, power or something as simple as coffee or makeup, we should always be in control of it and not let it take us over.
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