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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Adrenalin Junkies Anonymous

The world is full of addictions. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, and sex are the biggies that are discussed the most. But what about addictions to adrenalin? Part of the attraction to many things is the rush that people get from their chosen activity. Isn't adrenalin an underlying factor in a lot of those "rush" situations? People who participate in extreme sports could confirm that. As well as the tattoo and piercing freaky-deakies. What about those of us who choose to stay away from all of the taboo things and focus on finding our adrenalin rushes in other ways. Like deadlines. Oooooh. Watch out for those deadline junkies; the ultimate procrastinators who feel the rush of an impending deadline drawing near and the exhileration they feel when they pull out all of the stops and arrive at the finish line on time. Or calender-stackers. Wow. The people who end up with such a full calendar that it keeps them buzzing all day and night figuring out how they are going to squeeze everything in on time. Playing chicken with Father Time and loving every minute of it.
How did we get to be so crazy?
How scary. I looked at the calendar (which I have been avoiding lately). Just off the top of my head, I have something planned on almost every weekend between now and mid-December. I think I have one weekend in October and two weekends in November with absolutely nothing planned (so far). Isn't that insane?? Some things are smaller and can possibly be avoided, but it is still crazy. And that is before school starts. So I'm sure there will have to be shuffling around once I figure out my Evergreen schedule. Sheesh. I'm going to start getting grey hair soon. My friends are mostly in the same boat. Mary suggested that we need to be sure to take care of ourselves so we can live up to all that we have to do.
Back before all of the advances in technology, it seemed like life was much easier. Technology is supposed to provide a leg-up or make things easier, but it just seems like we're cramming more and more in to less and less time. We're constantly bombarded with things and not slowing down at all. Even the retired folks are crazy busy, albeit with medical appointments and other things, but still, it is a busy life in America.
I remember being in Barcelona back in 2001. The Europeans and the rest of the world were baffled at how Americans live without vacations of any length. I agreed with them back then and even more so now. Not only are vacations getting shorter and shorter, but we are required to catch up ahead of time or be lagging behind when we return. People are actually afraid to go on vacation because of the backlog they will face when the come back. And then more and more employers are counting on employees to check email, to be available via cell phone or to make a conference call or work on a project when there is a need while they are on vacation. What kind of insanity pit have we fallen into?
Will it ever change?

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