Life with an Addict

     Can you recognize an addict on the street?  My guess is probably not, I know because it is like trying to judge if a man is a cheater or a woman is an abusive Mother, it is just something you can NOT look at someone and know.   As a community, or nation we tend to look at people and judge them, but the truth is you can't look at people and tell if they are sick, addicts, if they are a rapist, murderer, or even if they are homeless or hungry.

     I have seen what addiction can do to a person, and a Family and no good ever comes from any of it.  Now I say addicts and instantly everyone thinks drugs, but did you know that there are thousands of different types of addicts?  I will go through just a few of the addictions that we as a Nation suffer from today, and try and show you how these addictions affect not only you but your Family.

Facebook, Twitter, Social Media

I am sure this is one that we all can relate to in some form or fashion.  Within this addiction you can include your smartphone, computer, email, or even on-line shopping.  I you wake up in the morning and one of the first things you do is cheek your email, or Facebook, then guess what?  You are a social media junkie!  I will be the first to admit, when I get up in the morning, I get my oldest girl up for school, make my pot of coffee and then to the computer I go to see what is going on for the day. Once I check and see what's up then I play Candy Crush, my downfall for the computer pr phone, :(.  The downfall to this addiction is not only do you lose contact with the Family that you live with but sometimes this particular site or sites can lead to cheating on your spouse or mate.  When you go out to dinner next time, just take 5 minutes and watch the people sitting at the table, not talking to the ones they are with, and have their nose crammed into their phone.  Nowadays this addiction is starting at very young ages because chidren as young as 5 are getting their own tablets and smartphones and I think it hurts our community because now we don't now how to talk to other people face to face.

Shopping and Couponing

I have actually had people say to me that there is no such thing as an addiction of couponing or shopping but yes there is.  I myself love couponng, and shopping, however if you are buying things because just because you have a coupon, or they are on sale, then you may have a problem.  Especially if you don't need it, can't use it, know someone that you will give it to, or have somewhere to put it, then it is an apparent addiction.  I have what you would call a stockpile in my home, in fact my son calls it Jennie's Grocery store, LOL.

These are pictures of my Grocery store, excuse the pictures, I dropped my camera and now I have black spots.  I show these pictures to show you what couponing can do for you and your Family but to also say that what I have here are things that me and my family will use.  I don't just buy it because it is on sale or I have a coupon, although these are tempting times to buy.  Also if you are going over on your budget, then you stop and think about why you are purchasing these items.
This addiction carries a lot of positive because you are saving money but it gets bad when you are spending money you don't have, and you are buying more toothpaste (you already have 12 tubes) and not food for the next week.   You need to learn a little balance in making sure you have the needs meet then work more on the stockpile.  Eventually you'll have everything you need, and see where this can be a great thing.

Sex, Porn

 These are some that you can't look at someone and say yelp, they have a problem.  People with these addictions typically tend to hide them from embarrassment.  Sadly today if you watch TV you are being exposed to the porn much more than a society should be on a regular basis.  Personally I feel this desensitizes our society and I know for my family the things that we watch affect the way we feel and think.  What am I trying to say?  Well, if every movie that is shown is about a woman, who is being beaten by a man, then we start to think that it is normal.  Our children see this and the guys think that is how you treat a lady and the girls think that is the normal.  Now don't get me wrong, obviously there is still a difference in the movies we watch and porn, However do you know how easy it is to get FREE porn now?  I have a 12 year old daughter that had a tablet, unfortunately getting on these sites are so easy, and she found the, that now she has a completely wacked out idea of what me and her daddy do when we are in our room.  Now my fear is that when she gets older that she is going to feel that what she saw is normal and never really know what true love is. I honestly believe that some of these things are what develops rapists and murderers in a lot of cases, but it is just so easy to find now that it is horrible.

Alcohol and Drugs

This is one that just about every Family in America can relate to in some form or fashion.  While Alcohol is  legal is can be very devastating to families.  It does NOT affect just men or women or any particular age group, in fact I would say that this one that starts long before the legal age and by the time they are of legal age is has become an addiction. Alcoholism is also a family heredity that is a big problem. There are social drinkers, these are drinkers that have a drink in  asocial setting 1 or 2 times a year.  They generally