There was a time many years ago, when I had to have the latest and greatest of everything. It really never mattered to me what they were, I just wanted them because I thought they would make me feel better. And each time I got any one of them, it always became my best friend for awhile. But in every single case, the moment came when it no longer made me feel better, and I started looking for another one to replace it. A friend of mine in recovery often refers to this condition in life as “Seeking Those Shiny Things”.
Many people who have battled one addiction in their life and found recovery from it, often find themselves only falling into another one down the road. I’ve watched people find their recovery from alcohol and drugs just to see them replacing it with something else such as sex, cigarettes or caffeine. There are others who I know of that were once addicted to sex or gambling, and instead have replaced them with alcohol or drugs. There’s even many now who I see doing none of the above but instead are constantly overeating. In my case, one of those substitute addictions I found was to seek and buy those shiny things.
Upgrades to my home stereo equipment, owning the latest and greatest cell phone, purchasing modifications for my sports car, securing the best laptop on the market, buying top notch headphones or televisions, were just some of those shiny things I sought after. With each acquisition, I’d get a “high” off of its newness and coolness just like I once did with a drink or a drug or a quick sexual act. That “high” was also boosted by always having to show everybody else what it was and what it could do. My ego would swell and I’d feel important and special for a short while. But like any addiction, such as to alcohol or drugs, I eventually needed more of and more of those shiny things to keep that “high” going. And it didn’t help my situation either that my parents had left me some money when they passed away, which only fed this addiction even more. But thankfully, it appears as if all my spiritual work to grow closer to God in recent years, has given me the ability to see all of these substitute addictions much more clearly. Because of this, I am happy to report I no longer am seeking those shiny things anymore, or falling into any other addiction now either.
While all those shiny things in life still gleam and sparkle around me everyday, beckoning me to purchase them, I actually am doing what I can now to maintain the ones I already own that once each did the same. My cell phone is from three years ago. My laptop is over six years old. My car dates back to 2007. And my home stereo system is even older than that. There are many others I could list here as well that I still own and haven’t replaced yet. Several of them have even been to repair shops at some point or another just to keep them running, and I have found a sense of humility in that action alone.
The biggest lesson I have learned in all of this is that every addiction, including the seeking of those shiny things, is just a substitute for a temporary “high” and short-lived happiness. In the long run, all of them only lead to misery, more cravings, and a life filled with nothing more than ups and downs. I’m glad I’m not seeking those new shiny things anymore and instead am taking all that energy and putting it into my journey to grow closer to God. Is that an addiction too then? I’m sure many would argue it is. But at least I can say that in the case of dedicating my life to God, I am becoming more selfless and filled with love and light every single day. I think anybody would agree that’s a whole lot better than the dead-end paths that results from the seeking of those shiny things or any other of those selfish addictions for that matter…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
