Queen’s guitarist Brian May believes that too much love will kill you. Heck, he even wrote a song with the same title. Now, whether you agree or not with this premise is, of course, all up to you.
One thing I know though, too much of anything can be bad for both you and me.
I’d even dare to posit that this is time-tested wisdom that never fails. My grandma had told me that at least once during her lifetime. My mother did, too, as I was growing up. And now, being a mother myself, it’s my turn to pass on the wisdom to my own kids.
Operative word: Moderation
If you haven’t already heard, there was news from last year about a woman whose Coca-Cola addiction may have contributed to her death. In all fairness to Coke, aside from the more than two gallons of Coke she consumed daily, the woman had poor eating habits and smoked 30 cigarettes per day.
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
There was also news of the death of a teenage gaming aficionado in Taiwan who died after 40 straight hours of playing Diablo III. Forty straight hours, imagine that! No eating, no sleeping, just pure gaming.
Coke or any soda product for that matter, in and of itself, isn’t bad – as long as it’s taken in moderation. Similarly, online gaming can’t be bad as long as it’s done in moderation. Yes, the operative word here is “moderation.” In other words, balance.
Know thyself
I’ve been asked quite a few times what my perception is of online gaming, specifically sites such as the likes of http://www.cheekybingo.com. Personally, I stay away from them, much the same way I distance myself from most Facebook game apps like Pet Society, CityVille, FarmVille and all those Zynga-powered Villes.
I’ve been there, done that once upon a lifetime. And now, I have to stay away because I have this capacity to get hooked – addicted, if I may say so bluntly, that I can potentially lose sleep over them.
Then again, let me just make it clear that, at least in my opinion, it isn’t bad to visit these sites once in a while, as long as you’re of age and you’re perfectly aware of what you’re doing. Too much work and too little play makes Jane a dull girl, remember?
Just as money per se can’t be bad, these sites are there to keep you entertained. The only question is, would you be psychologically and emotionally mature enough to restrain yourself when restraining is most needed?
That said, before you venture into their territories, know yourself, your capacities and your limitations. If you can’t establish a distinct line between when to continue and when to stop, it’s probably best to try something else for fun. There definitely is no shortage of other avenues.
Conclusion
My little girl has a classmate whose mother is a casino frequenter. The mother has, unfortunately, morphed into a gambling addict that she even had to resort to taking away her own kids’ money just so she could go to the casino and play. As a result, the classmate left her mother’s house and lived with her grandmother instead.
The moral of the story: Parent or not, never dare cross any boundary you know you would have trouble backing away from when the time comes. Really, too much of anything can be bad for you.
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Cel,
Soda is bad. Some things, you just can’t justify by moderation.
Hahah, now with that out of the way…
When you are hooked on to something in a bad way, that is addiction. There is a reason why it’s there. It’s your own soothing mechanism when you are stressed, agitated etc.
People who are addicted to something do not, contrary to popular belief, like what they are doing. They are compulsively doing it because of lack of outlet. It’s quite complicated. It’s not that they don’t want to stop but they can’t.
I am in no way condoning addiction. And just a word – anything can become an addiction, even if it’s acceptable activity by society’s standards- care taking others, eating, reading, seeking approval, earning money, etc. It’s all a way to manage pain and keep ourselves a little sane.
When people are able to stop judging themselves primarily for how they feel and start paying more attention and accepting their emotions, that can play a big part in ending an addiction. Because if you ask these people why they are hooked on to anything, they will tell you because it makes them “feel good”. But what they are really saying is that it helps them from falling apart in little ways. Of course addiction ultimately destroys and hence, the need to wean one’s self off it. But that will also require support and understanding from the people around instead of a holier-than-thou attitude.
Anyhow, just my 2 centavos. 😉
I’ll take your 2 centavos anytime, Nads. Hey, thanks for dropping by, by the way.
LOL on soda being bad and cannot be justified by moderation. Indeed, you got a point there. And I’d rather keep my mouth zipped because there just is no time to waste arguing about soda. 😉
Truly, a holier-than-thou attitude from other people isn’t going to help anybody but may worsen the situation. Like we’ve been discussing time and time again, we got no right to judge unless we’ve walked the exact paths the people we’re judging have walked. I guess what I was trying to impart in the article above is if a person knows that he has a tendency to get hooked into something in a bad way, it’s probably just right that he takes a step back (two or three steps would be better, I think) and re-evaluate, most especially his priorities.
Some people say they’ve got no choices. Then again, I believe, we always have choices. Even self-defense is a choice. You can choose to live or die. It’s all up to you. Most of the choices we make, they can change our lives profoundly.
Gaming is good, yes. But to a point. Gaming can become an addiction, too. And if you, like I pointed out, know yourself to be somebody who can get addicted, I would like to believe the best course of action is to walk away. There’s a reason why prevention is better than cure, right?
But I do appreciate and admire your deep understanding of human nature, Nads. I know I haven’t told you that, not even once. Now you know. 🙂
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Nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so – Shakespeare
Akos Fintor recently posted…How to Create Easy Online Income BS
Hey, Akos. Thanks for coming by.
Maybe. Maybe not. Still, there has to be a demarcation line somewhere. Otherwise, all we would have in this world is chaos.
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Yes too much of everything is really bad, even too much money is bad. But there is one thing I want to have too much, I want to be too HEALTHY! I think its the only thing I can think even if too much is still good, hehehe.
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Dustin, thanks for the visit and for dropping us a line. I would love to be super healthy, too.
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