When Does Addiction Become a Problem?

It's socially acceptable to be young and do crazy things but their comes a time when it's expected that you leave these things behind in order to become a functioning member of society. Terms, such as "alcoholic", is most often associated with an adult more so than a teen who might be getting drunk every weekend.

When does addiction become a problem?

It becomes a problem when the addiction takes precedents over the responsibilities of the individual. While responsibilities can come at any age, it usually becomes more relevant with time. Teens, freshly out of high school, don't usually have the same responsibilities as an adult a few years into his career.

There's an extended family member of mine who's an alcoholic and decided to forgo most of his responsibilities for his life, in favor of alcohol, giving that responsibility to his children instead. His eldest son, at a young age, had to work simply to pay bills that should've been paid by his father. This went on up until the dad became sick and had to be placed in an assisted living home. The son was given the choice to care for his father or leave him in the assisted living home. What would you of done in this situation?

If you're battling an addiction then you're sole, most pressing, responsibility is on self-recovery. Seek help not only for yourself but for those around you. There's nothing as painful as seeing someone you love struggling with such daemons.

In Canada, various programs/helplines are available.

It's Your Life

There's some tension in the family as of late due to my sister wanting to move an hour away from where she currently reside making it a bit more difficult for anyone to go see her. While I can certainly appreciate some peers feeling overwhelmed with the news, I don't consider it bad news as she's simply wanting to find her place of happiness in the world. My sister is conflicted as she would of liked to have everyone in the family approve/be overjoyed of the new possibility that presented itself in her life.

I've learned a long time ago that you don't need to seek approval from those closest to you for every endeavors. It's sometime best to do what you feel is right before sharing with those closest to you as they might of steered you in a totally different, wrong for you, direction. 

If my sister doesn't do as she pleases, due to the interference of a family member, then part of the happiness, or lack thereof, falls on the person responsible for the interference. 

My hope is that she'll shut off the naysayers and do what her heart dictates. If she makes the decision then she gets to enjoy the fruit of them. The good thing about this particular decision is that she can always decide to come back or move somewhere else she may find more agreeable to her.

Don't Buy The Latest, Expansive/Powerful Phones

A phone is only as good as it's battery and every battery will get worse over time. If you were to buy a 2000$ phone today, instead of the 700$ one, know that in 5-6 years both of these phones would struggle to run more than a few hours.

Expensive phones usually have better specs but is that really useful? What do you usually do on a phone other than take some pictures, browse online/social media, or text/call? Do you really need a phone that is as powerful as the latest generation of gaming console to do these things?

When buying a Desktop/Mac, what you want to do with it determines the specs you should be looking out for. For some people, this logic doesn't apply when buying phones but even if it did can we really use the phone for anything more than the bare minimum? Let me explain:

• If you get the powerful phone in order to play games wouldn't it be better to buy a switch or a laptop instead?
• If you're looking for the best camera/phone, wouldn't it be better to buy an actual camera instead?
• If you're looking to do video editing, wouldn't it be better to do that on a desktop/mac rather than a phone?
• ...

Perhaps the only reason why companies are making powerful/expansive phones is for those looking to satisfy their ego. Like Rolex is to watches, an expansive phone as a social status tied to it.

I bring this up today because I recently had to upgrade my phone and it took everything in my power NOT to buy the latest/powerful/expansive entry opting, instead, for a new/old iPhone 11 (rather than the newer iPhone 13). When questioning myself I realized that I don't need power as much as I need functional. The arguments I made with myself are the ones I shared above.

If you are in the market for a new phone I would encourage you to find out what you want to do with it and buy something that is on par with your findings, while also being within your budget, rather than something more powerful/expansive that you may not use to its fullest capabilities.

When Cheaper isn't Actually Cheaper

My mom is quick to brag about the deals she got on some her purchases but sometimes getting something cheaper isn't actually cheaper. Dollorama is one of my parent's favorite place to shop for some goods, like ketchup, and while it is cheaper per unit than bigger bottles you also get a lot less content for that price.

This seems to be a very difficult concept for my parents to understand. Look, I get it, you don't have 7$ to put towards a big ketchup bottle hence why you purchase the smaller, cheaper one, but what needs to be understood is that it won't last as long and next thing you know you're back at Dollorama buying another small bottle. If you would of gotten the bigger bottle, you may still have some ketchup to spare during that same period of time.

This philosophy also extend to other items. When buying shoes, you can get cheap brands but they likely won't last as long, or be as comfortable, as the bit more expensive ones. Essentially, this means that it's more expensive to be poor, and buy the cheapest options, than to be rich and buy the not so cheap options.

The Last Home

Ever since my grand father passed away, 10 years ago, things have been changing quite rapidly for my grand mother. She went from owning a house, to moving to an apartment, to moving to a private care home, to the hospital, to moving to an assisted living home; The later of which will likely be her last home.

Due to complications, that came with her advance age, she went from a fully functioning person to a shadow of her former self. She went from being able to think clearly, walking, to being confused and confined to a bed.

Given the choice, I'm sure she wouldn't of wanted to be in this situation but getting old isn't a choice now is it?

The family's responsibility now is to accept this new version of our elderly family member while also remembering who that person was at her best. My hope for my grand mother is that she's able to find some enjoyment in this last stage of her life as well as peace with this inevitable end that awaits us all. 

She's given me life/love and, most importantly, an example to follow. I will be there for you until the bitter end.