Addict

Waking up at 4:45 a.m. gives one plenty of time to ponder. In addition, basking in the cool morning air, slurping some french roast and donning an impressive plaid shirt, there's not much else to do but enter one's thoughts and expound on what comes to mind.

I was thinking of addictive personalities, how some people express being prone to alcoholism, drugs, or another medium. While watching The Biggest Loser (yes, I watch it), a contestant told his story of having a father who abused alcohol. He focused so hard on not becoming addicted to alcohol, which he felt he was apt to do given an "addictive personality". He was able to keep his distance from alcohol, but instead abused food.

Can we coin the term "addictive personality" when there are so many opportunities for individuals in this country to find an addiction with? Alcohol, food, pornography, drugs, cleaning, self-abuse, control, denial, work, self-sabotage, etc. The list could be endless for things we can addicted in.

We live in a country where a comfortable life is the standard. Tragic, given that tragedy abounds at one point or another in all of our lives. The majority of contestants on The Biggest Loser all have stories of tragedy, of death striking someone close to them, of abusive relationships, of childhood trauma, and food happened to be what they found comfort in. Food could easily be substituted for anything else, alcohol, drugs, self-abuse, Jesus.

A standard of "comfortable living" should never be expected. A standard of knowing who and what to rely on when life's travesties strikes is in order. It's not a question of if something unexpected and trying happens, it's a question of when.

At the root of human nature there is a need to be affirmed, to understand that I am worth something and that I have something to contribute to the world around me. At the root of human nature, there is a need to be affirmed by the one true source, the source who is pure, who does not disappoint, and who gives us exactly what we need whether we understand it or not.

The only 'addictive personality' that exists within man's soul is an addiction to substitute the love of Christ for something tangible and instantaneous. The contestants on The Biggest Loser have nothing to hide as their substitutions are brutally manifested in physical form for the world to see.

Their failures are as vivid and daunting as the sun shining in our eyes. They can see their mistakes, but they can also see their sustained victory as they put for the required work.

It takes desire, it takes time, it takes effort to allow your soul to become addicted to Christ and the love he offers.