Are You Seeing Your Addiction? What are the Stuff That I do.

When we talk about addiction what comes first into your mind?

By default, I will say it is illegal drugs, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. The place where I grew up was known to have multiple drug raids every now and then. We experience policemen knocking on our doors asking for certain people in the middle of the night and at that time we knew that our place is not a good place to stay. Pops started drinking during his teenage years plus the cigarette addiction was a mess that took a toll on everyone in the family over the past years.

So as someone who experienced multiple scenarios that negatively impacts everyone with the addiction I told myself that I will never be involved with those three which I was able to manage as of writing.

Photo by Mikail Duran on Unsplash

As I try to make myself more productive lately, I began to read a mini devotional book called The Daily Stoic 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and The Art of Living by Ryan Holiday, and as much as I can try to incorporate the learnings that I get from the book. I am on the 8th day, and it talks about seeing our own addictions.

It shares some of the things that we think as harmless indulgences can become a full-blown addiction to which I agree 100%.

Have you noticed the notification bar in your Facebook account, Messenger, Tiktok, and Instagram and checked it from time to time? How about the never-ending scrolling in your social media accounts looking for something to react and watch too? Lastly, are you updated on the lives of celebrities or gossip from your friends, etc.?

If there's a court, for sure I will be marked as guilty as charged. This stuff may be small and I think are not that destructive are some of the things that I am addicted to and did I include reading manhwa and manga?

They are my own addiction.

It was fun until I will notice that some of the stuff that I need to do get delayed. A good example is creating a blog post and researching stuff on what I should write.

Though I stay away from my desktop to read my manga and manhwa I am using my device to access such. Also, when I scroll in Tiktok those funny videos don't seem to stop! As if the algorithm is telling me to stop being productive and just enjoy the moment and sing along with those catchy songs. Right now, if you will be asking me if I am up to date with the recent happenings in the showbiz industry, who cheated who, and what are the take of the influencers to cheating I am well versed in that too!

Now just because I see it, that doesn't mean that I do not care. I am well aware of how addictive it is but have never taken any action before.

Actions that I did so far

Currently, I uninstalled the Facebook application on my mobile device. I am on my 1st week and yes it is hard. More often than not, when I am idle at work I try to search for the app on my phone as my applications are sorted alphabetically so on the first page of my screen it will pop up immediately.

I still try to practice not using my device from time to time and whenever I go to the grocery or do my daily walk I try not to bring my phone even if the scenery in our place is serene.

In exchange for my manga and manhwa, I try to read books. Physical books that I can use markers and jot down some notes. E-books are one of the best innovations that we have but I am more to search mangabat.com or mangareader if I am not on my social media accounts rather than reading some of the ebooks that I downloaded from the cloud.

Right now, I am trying to read Telling the Truth to Troubled People by Backus in my spare time. I am hoping to have it finished before month-end as this book has been long delayed for more than two years already.

Gossips are quite hard to avoid! It seems that I am a magnet to such and I can feel if there is. Some say that men are much more gossiper than women but they do it in a subtle way. I am planning on not to indulge and view some pages that are known for such activities plus I might uninstall Tiktok in the next few days as it becomes my source of chismis too! Raffy Tulfo in Action, Papa Jackson, and other late-night shows gossiping I will try to avoid. On this one, I am not that confident that I can overcome but I will try my very best.

How about you have you seen your addiction? Are you taking action on it?