Confront Your Vices

Not every addiction ends up with the discovery of your corpse in some abandoned warehouse by the river. No, some forms of addiction sneak up on you, slowly draining your life’s potential like a succubus or vampire. We might call these lesser forms of addiction vices. Gaming, porn, sexting. Nobody’s ever died from a porn overdose, at least that I know of. But plenty of new research points to over-consumption of porn as a cause of erectile dysfunction. So, your vice hurts you, even if it doesn’t kill you.

Your friends and coworkers might not even realize you have a problem. In the end, though, we all have to deal with our vices if we want to become who we want to be. We’ve read plenty of self-help articles on confidence, drive, motivation, and time management. Everyone has their weaknesses. Me? I’m great on those fronts. In fact, making room for my vice has given me outstanding time management skills. So maybe I owe it thanks? (Fuck, I’m confusing myself in my own self-help post.)

We stereotype people with addictions and vices. We think we’ll see track marks on their arms if we pull up their sleeves. Or we think they’ll show up drunk one day and let their demons fly about like bats for everyone to see. For every clear case of addiction, there’s three more quieter addicts who just won’t enjoy a full life.