Addicted to...What?

Addictions are a touchy subject for most people! Most people know someone who is struggling with an addiction. These are very sad situations, and please understand that I am not making light of these very serious addictions in this post.

The King and I were just discussing a person we know who may or may not have an addiction. This discussion brought to my mind the various addictions one may have.

There are, of course, the serious addictions that I spoke of. Drugs. Alcohol. P*rn*graphy. Cigarettes. Gambling. And I am sure a plethora more that I know little or nothing about.

Then there are the "good" addictions. Maybe "good" isn't the right word here. "Harmless?" Still not sure. Can any addiction be harmless, really? If something is overtaking your life, is it "good," "harmless."

Take my addictions, for example. I have one very intense addiction that has been an addiction since at least high school.

"My name is Jenn and I am addicted to chapstick!"

It's true. I have a problem. My mom said before my wedding that I should design my bouquet so that I could have a tube of chapstick in it. I did not do this, of course. But I did carry a small purse with me that day that had some in it.

Now, is this addiction to chapstick "good"? I would not think so. I get antsy if I don't have chapstick with me. My lips start to hurt after a couple of hours if I don't use it. (I will say, I think this is just in my head. On Oprah yesterday the makers of Carmex said there is nothing in their brand that is chemically addictive. I would assume this is the same for all brands.) So no, my addiction to chapstick is not "good."

Is it harmless? For this I would say, yes. It does not interfere with my role as a mother, wife. It does not interfere with my job or my day to day life.

However, my other addiction does at times.

"My name is Jenn, and I am addicted to blogging."

This is a new one. But I can spend hours on the internet looking at blogs and linking from blog to blog. It is fun! I like it alot. I feel like I have a small window into others' lives. And I have "met" a lot of people who have the same interests as I do.

However, like I said, I can do this for hours. It can interfere with my role as a mother, and a wife. And it can interfere with job and my day to day life. So this addiction is, for me, not harmless. (I am putting limits on my blogging time now. Step One!)

The King has an addiction of his own. This is a new one as well.

On Friday, a church member sent out an e-mail about a current presidential candidate. The e-mail said the information in it was true and you could verify it on Snopes.com. Well, the King wanted to verify the information, and that led to a new addiction.

The King is addicted to Snopes!

Addicted to..What???

Snopes is a website that verifies or denies information, urban legends, myths, and the like. The King took a whole day and played on there. He now knows a lot of information, urban legends, myths and the like.

And the info on the candidate?

False!