Shopping, Sugar, and Social Media - How To Break Free From These 3 Everyday Addictions

Dose of Wonder's first guest post by JFT Beach

Note from Caitlin of Dose of Wonder -

JFT Beach 🏖️🏊

brings his trademark wit and wisdom to help you live a better life. So without further ado…

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Photo by Patrick Seguin on Unsplash

"Forms, sounds, tastes, odours, Tactiles, and all mental objects:

This is the terrible bait of the world With which the world is infatuated. "

(The Buddha)

As the big man says:

We’re all infatuated with stuff.

Maybe the word addicted is more accurate.

A world of addiction.

An addiction of a world.

Either, or both, work.

And yes ladies and gentlemen of the Substacky jury I’m no exception.

Point me to the addict box on the ballot paper and I’ll put my cross there.

Abso-blooming-lutely guilty as charged.

Now over time my poisons have changed, but I’m forever getting caught out by these Buddha Baits.

Buddha Bait #1 - Online Shopping

I recently spent over of an hour tracking down a £3 waterproof watch on Vinted.

My daughter lost my normal sea swimming watch and I like to keep an eye on time in the water (because … hyperthermia).

But on Vinted there were pages, and pages, of these cheap watches.

All pretty much identical, save for the brand or the strap colour!

Yet here I was weighing up the pros and cons for ages.

Looking at the photos.

Reading the descriptions.

Playing my own weird online shopping comparison game.

Wasting precious time and mental resources.

For a 3 quid bit of plastic.

After about an hour I had a quiet word with myself and picked one.

But what a farce!

And don’t even get me started with my previous Amazon online review checking to buy a bloody potato peeler.

Buddha Bait #2 - Excess Food

I’ve spent most of my 50 years living with an eating disorder.

A disorder of excess and gluttony.

Scarfing pretty much anything if it's not nailed down.

Sugar and fat being my particular drugs of choice.

Cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, doughnuts and all that.

I wouldn’t think twice about eating a whole pack of biscuits in 15 minutes.

A tub of Ben and Jerry’s without looking up.

Ma-hoo-sive chocolate bars, as big as a gorilla mitt just getting annihilated during the Teevee adverts.

I’d mindlessly chuck them all up in my mouth.

Crunchin’ and a munchin’, loading up again, until the packet’s gone and I’m left in a sugar-fat (boy) coma.

Doing goodness knows what damage to my body, and feeling awful.

Pleased to say that therapy has helped me turn the tables on this, but it’s been a bait I’ve been chasing for a long time.

And I know this is one I need to keep an eye for life; not fully CURED by any means.

Buddha Bait #3 - Exercise

Been through periods of exercising several times a day.

Compelled to do it.

Couldn't stop myself.

Chasing those endorphins and happy clappy chemicals.

Whilst it may seem a healthy addiction; it can be destructive too.

Used to leave me exhausted at night.

Tired, grumpy, and very unhelpful to my wife and children.

Fortunately a bout of Covid broke the pattern and gave me the chance to see what I was doing.

And chang-eth my ways a little.

Buddha Bait #4 - Social Media

I’m not an Instagrammer or X’er.

I do a bit of Facebook so always need to be vigilant of rabbit holes there.

But it’s Substack that’s my current challenge.

Posting Notes.

Checking notes.

Evaluating the comments and likes.

Ruminating why I’ve not #goneviral.

It’s the image…

It’s the title…

It needs more italics…

(REALITY CHECK:

It’s probably ‘cos I’ve got less than 200 subscribers so viral is always going to be a bit of a pipe dream BS nonsense challenge).

And all those Substackin’ Socialz Stuff (SSS) takes time.

Precious time.

And energy.

Both of which would almost definitely be better spent elsewhere.

On a good day I check Substack once in the evening - deliberately keeping my phone out of reach all day.

On a bad day I’m checking and refreshing my phone like a hen pecking fresh feed.

And these are just a few of my current vices.

I’ve got more, and in the past had some more dangerous and darker ones too.

(Those kinds of things I’ll probably write aboot if I ever get a paywall up. Things I’m happy to share with a few people, but don’t necessarily want to be there for all to see online).

And I know it ain’t just me out here.

I’m not the only circus freak in town.

Like I said earlier everyone has addictions.

Because most behaviours when taken to extremes can become unhealthy.

So the job for all of us is to be aware of them.

Be conscious.

Keep an objective eye on when things are healthy, and when things are becoming obsessive and unhealthy.

And doing this is a never ending march through life.

I don’t think we can ever SOLVE our tendency to addictions.

But we can try to minimise, or eliminate, the really bad ones (excess alcohol, drugs, smoking, and overeating), and keep an eye that the healthy ones don’t tip into the obsessive.

Lots of ways to do this.

One of my current faves is meditation and mindfulness which gives time to slow down, and be more of an observer of your life and habits.

It’s simple, free, and doesn’t take a lot to get started.

(Just sit for 5 minutes. Close your eyes. Clear your mind. Breath in and out. Listen to your breath. Focus on your breath. When thoughts come in to your brain thank them. Move them on. Focus on the breath again. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat).

That's about it on a basic level.

And if you’re interested there’s quite a few stories of how I’m using these approaches on the web page below:

https://yourhappierandhealthierlife.substack.com/t/sunday-best-round-up

To managing addiction,

JFT Beach

Special thanks to JFT Beach for this great post! And don’t forget to check out

JFT Beach 🏖️🏊

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