Vices

What vices do you have? What do you do that you know isn’t good for you but you do anyway?

Many of us do things we know aren’t good for us. We give ourselves excuses such as ‘it’s ok, we only live once’ or ‘I’m not hurting anyone else’ or ‘I deserve it’ or ‘I need it!’. While smoking, drinking and gambling aren’t things I’m interested in, I do have interests which arent good for me which I continue to partake in. These include junk food – I love eating and unfortunately I love eating junk food. I love sweet, savoury, sugary foods and drinks. I enjoy them during celebrations and rely on them during commiserations. I’m even aware that as an overweight parent, my children are more likely to become overweight themselves and develop health related problems such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, yet I still consume these foods and drinks which crippling society.

Another vice I have is video games. When I have had challenges in my life which I wasn’t able to face directly, I sought refuge elsewhere as I felt better equipped to control things in the virtual world than I could not in the real. I’ve been able to put this vice to the side for a while now. One of the big issues for me with video games is I have a completionist complex so I’m not satisfied until I’ve arrived at the outcome. I don’t like leaving things for another day which means that if a game takes 50-100 hours to complete, then I would focus on that and take time from other tasks to do so. Tasks such as taking the kids to the park, helping around the house or doing something purposeful for myself.

While I don’t play many video games these days, I’ll allow myself to purchase a couple of big titles each year and set some time aside to enjoy – almost like planning and booking a holiday.

While I love partaking in these things, I know they each pose negative effects not only on myself but to those around me so I moderate to the best of my ability. Sometimes if I’ve overindulged I need to go cold-turkey for a period of time to almost detox and cleanse.

A great way of ridding yourself of bad behaviours is by replacing them with beneficial habits. Many people have replaced poor addictions with good ones such as changing from watching reruns of The Block to getting up and going for a run around the block.

Have a think about anything that may be holding you back in your personal and professional life and set measures in place to mitigate negative effects.

PDR