Soft addictions either habits, compulsive behaviors, or chronic moods or negative thought patterns. Their essential defining quality is that they gratify a shallow want but completely ignore the deeper need. The soft addiction brings a superficial high instead of true feelings of accomplishment. A good number of soft addictions concern necessary activities like eating, reading, and sleeping. These activities turn into soft addictions as soon as we overdo them and start using them for more than their intended purpose. Soft addictions are captivating in their softness. E-mailing, shopping, and talking on the phone all appear to be completely harmless, pleasurable activities. When we realize the amount of time and energy we dedicate to them, however, we can see how they will soon lower the quality of our lives. You need to understand that there are an infinite assortment of soft addictions. Though a universal soft addiction might be television watching, a personal form could be sketching geometric figures or counting things for no reason. A few people have a difficult time distinguishing an occasional behavior or fleeting mood from a soft addiction. Is watching TV for an hour a day a harmless habit, while if you watch three hours per day (the national average), is it a soft addiction? As a general rule, keep the following in mind: The motivation for and the function of your behavior decide whether or not it's a soft addiction. For example, TV can be a window to view new worlds -- or it could be used to escape this world. There's a lady who is very careful about what she watches. She uses TV as a tool to gain knowledge about foreign cultures and to better understand the behavior of animals. Another lady vegetates on the couch in front of the TV daily. She leads a tough, hectic work life, and she incorrectly thinks that watching TV all night will reduce her stress. Rarely does she have a particular program she wants to watch or a actual cause for watching it. When you contrast the two TV viewers, the differences in motivation and function are easy to see. The first woman's motivation is to gain knowledge; the 2nd woman's motivation is to turn her brain off. Do not allow soft addictions to control your life.
JUDITH WRIGHT is hailed as a world-class coach, inspirational speaker, best-selling author, and corporate consultant. She is cofounder of the <a href="http://www.wrightexcellence.com/wright-institute-for-lifelong-learning/" style="text-decoration:underline;">Wright Institute for Lifelong Learning</a>. See her press release her book, "<a href="http://www.judithwright.com/pdfs/media-one-decision-press-release.pdf" style="text-decoration:underline;">One Decision</a>".
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