Addictions Ashamictions

I feel like I have been bombarded with the topic of addiction this week. Earlier this week I sat down with co-workers at lunch and chatted about the food industry and how they make food addictive to us consumers. One person said that she had read an article in which the author explained the science and combination of additives and fats and attractiveness that make it impossible for us to resist certain foods. In it the author exclaims that people should not feel bad about the fact that they just cannot stop eating those Lays potato chip, pasta at the Olive Garden, and Snickers bars because they are a victim of the food industry. The makers of these products have done research on the perfect combination of all that is unhealthy so as to seduce you into a food oblivion.

Now I don't know about you, but I have seen addiction. We typically think of addiction to drugs or alcohol or cigarettes, or whatever. We watch this from the privacy of our own homes through shows like Intervention and Addiction amongst many others. This is what a lot of people think of when they hear the word addiction; needles, bags, deceit, depression, dependency. I even worked for an agency that did research with addicts, so I have "seen it all" so to speak.

If there is one thing I learned through a lot of these media outlets and personal experience, it is that an addict who seeks treatment of any sort needs to be willing to take responsibility, to admit that they have a problem, to understand what is causing them to continue with the addictive behavior.

Of course I do not know what article I am referencing here, but how is it ok then for the author of that article to tell people that it's ok to overeat and to tell them not to feel bad that they are doing so because the fault lies with the manufacturers, developers, etc of these products. This seems a little ridiculous to me. If people who are addicted to crack must must admit their wrongdoing and that they are part of the problem, than those with addictions to food should follow the same path. We shouldn't be telling people to blame others for their addiction.

I never thought so much about food addiction. It seems like an inconceivable concept to most because it is food...not crack, not alcohol, not any of the things that society looks down upon. In our society it is socially acceptable to overindulge....as long as you stay thin that is.

A Long Time Coming

Ok so a long time ago there existed this thing called live journal. In fact, people probably still use xanga or live journal, but it is my opinion that as a grown up, I have to move on from calling my ramblings a "journal" and create something more sophisticated, i.e. a blog.

I've been reading others blogs and decided that this is something I want to do for the time being. I always enjoyed putting my thoughts out there for "the world" to see. So here it is, my first "blog." Every Friday I'd like to write about things I have been thinking about about that week. No real theme, just whatever comes to mind. I am open to and would love to hear your comments as my readers. Hopefully this will not only be therapeutic for me, but will also encourage all of you to think about things that you don't think about on a daily basis. Oh and don't worry, no real names will be used, only pseudonyms!

This week I have been thinking a lot about interpersonal relationships. I have a conflict going on in my life right now that has been causing me a great deal of stress and pain. If anyone knows me, I like to keep stress out of my personal life and leave it at work. Right now I am unable to do that. Vague, I know, but it leads me to my question...

So I was wondering, was it always like this? Did people always talk behind each others backs, pretend that liked people, and say hurtful things about one another? I'm not talking about Bible times here, or ancient ruins, I'm talking your grandparents or my grandparents, or their parents...did they treat each other the way that we do now? I mean if your grandparents are like most, you probably look at them and think they don't have a harmful bone in their bodies, but maybe that's just because after so many years they just stopped.

Now I've done my fair share of talking about people, don't get me wrong, but at 25 I feel like it's time to be done with it. I never liked treating people that way, and 99% of the time I felt guilty for doing it, but I did. Is there a point that we can just announce to the world that we're over it, and that we can handle whatever someone has to say so just bring it on! I never thought I'd have to do that. I mean, I always thought that at some point everyone just grows up and that everyone would just be able to say whatever they are feeling, whatever is on their mind, whether it hurts someone else or not.

I have always believed in honesty. I believe it can work. I believe that if I am honest, then I am real and I deserve the respect and love of others. I wish I could say that I could go back and change the way that things are, but if that's really the way it's always been then I am not hopeful. And if it's always been this way, then I suppose I can look forward to the day when everyone just grows up, like our grandparents seem to have done.

All I know is that I will continue to speak up, to not treat others the way that they have treated me. To give the person that has been causing my pain the benefit of the doubt and to be honest with them. Then I will remind myself that even though it probably didn't make a damn bit of difference, I am true to who I believe I am. I will continue to ask that they do the same...because I'm a big girl now and I can handle it.