Life is 90% managing addictions

It's truly an addiction that's taking over our minds. The phone is with us at all times. There's no idol time. We scroll. We scroll in bed before we get up, in the bathroom, at stop lights, when you go to bed at night.

It's keeping us in a state of unease and chaos.

You don't have time to walk the dog... but add up the minutes, hours, days, weeks you spend on social media. You have time.

You don't have to go to the mall to shop anymore. You can do it on Instagram through your phone at 3 am when you wake up and can't sleep. Shopping can be about lack of fulfillment. There's an internal void. If you're shopping as a mood changer, you may be addicted to shopping.

This goes back to social media. Again. Just like the shopping... accessible 24/7 on social media.

Posting selfies on social media and incessantly refreshing your feed for new comments and likes all result in a dopamine hit to your system. It becomes an addiction.

You've got a fridge full of vegetables you bought while thinking you've got to start eating healthier. But there's the bag of potato chips, cheese and crackers, chocolates, cookies, ice cream. You eat that instead. Anything but whole food.

It's designed that way. The smell. The taste. The convenience. It's an addiction.

You can text anytime, day or night. So you do. You check texts even without a notification, just in case. And if a notification goes off, you drop everything to check it. It could be important. It's yet another addiction.

We are addicted to anxiety as a society. Why else would you possibly even consider listening to the news? When is the last time it made you feel good? The outlook is grim on the daily and yet millions tune in as a habit. It's an addiction to keep you on the edge of worry all the time for "legitimate" reasons. There's a part of you that knows its all propaganda, but listening to it continuously and the outrageous becomes believable.

We sign up for all kinds of things that cause anxiety. We overbook ourselves. We drink "in moderation" those 2 glasses of wine, sometimes 3, knowing that the 3 am wake up call will happen. In fact if you tracked your heart rate you'd find that it's low when you don't drink those 2 glasses of wine every time, and higher when you do. You find that you actually sleep through the night.

The truth is we are addicted to anxiety. It's a habit. It's hard to break because it has become so normal to feel that way. It's truly an addiction.

How many times have you said yes and your soul is screaming... noooooo, no, no, I don't want to do this thing. But I feel like I have to say yes. People pleasing is an addiction.

I'm choosing to get addicted to daily mediation, to walking with my dog for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. To going to the gym 3x a week. To eating more whole foods. To drinking less wine and more water.

Practice a thing days and days and days in a row and it becomes a habit. Choose to get addicted to:

• Meditation
• Drinking water
• Lifting weights
• Walking the dog
• Reading & writing
• Eating whole foods
• Getting 8 hours of sleep
• Getting 6 to 10K steps a day in