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What are Soft Addictions

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Soft addictions either habits, compulsive behaviors, or chronic moods or negative thought patterns. Their essential defining quality is that they satisfy a surface want but disregard or block the deeper need. The soft addiction brings a superficial high instead of true feelings of accomplishment.

Numerous soft addictions concern necessary activities such as eating, reading, and sleeping. They turn into soft addictions as soon as we overdo them and start using them for things other than their intended purpose. Soft addictions, unlike hard ones such as drugs and alcohol, are captivating in their softness. E-mailing, shopping, and talking on the phone seem like totally harmless, pleasurable activities. When we realize how much time and energy we dedicate to them, however, we can see how they will soon compromise the quality of our lives.

You should know that an almost infinite variety exists. A soft addiction can be as idiosyncratic as any individual personality. While a universal soft addiction may be television watching, a more personal form could be sketching geometric figures or counting things for no reason.

A number of men and women have a difficult time distinguishing an infrequent behavior or brief mood from a soft addiction. If you watch television one hour per day, is it only a harmless habit,while if you watch three hours per day (the national average), does it become a soft addiction?

As a general rule, keep the following in mind: The incentive and the function of your behavior decide whether or not it’s a soft addiction. For instance, television can be a window into new worlds — or it can be used to escape this world. There’s a lady who is very selective in the shows she watches, using television as a tool to learn about life in foreign cultures and to understand animal behavior. She employs television watching as a tool to gain knowledge. Another lady I know vegetates in front of the television every day, channel surfing and letting the programs wash over her. She leads a tough, hectic work life, and she mistakenly believes her viewing habits reduce her of stress. Seldom does she have a specific show she desires to watch or a genuine reason for watching it. When you contrast the 2 television watchers, the differences in motivation and function are easy to see. The 1st woman’s motivation is to gain knowledge; the second woman’s motivation is to turn her brain off. The first woman uses television to enhance her life; the second woman uses it to escape from her life.

Don’t let soft addictions take over your life.

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About the Author: JUDITH WRIGHT is hailed as a world-class coach, inspirational speaker, best-selling author, and corporate consultant. She is cofounder of the Wright Institute for Lifelong Learning. See her press release her book, One Decision.

Article source: http://www.easyarticles.com

Posted in Addictions |