Addicted!

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PacMan Jones is a football player who's been suspended for a year, cut from a couple of different teams, and he remains a defiant human being by all accounts.

This morning I saw an interview with PacMan (can you imagine being a grown man with such a name?) where he claimed a helpless addiction to drinking and hanging out in strip clubs. Watching it long enough, I almost felt sorry for him.

David Duchovney is suffering from a sex addiction. The poor guy couldn't get over his problem quick enough to keep it from costing him his marriage.

Yet we all seem to be addicted to something, now don't we? I certainly have an addictive personality and I have had trouble battling back addictions from day one.

I've been to parties where I've told my wife -"I'm not leaving until all the alcohol is gone."

I've been addicted to nicotine for years.

I certainly can be obsessive about eating.

I can play the slot machines without interruption and I've thrown caution to the wind a few times.

Then I listened to Howard Stern - his sidekick Artie Lange has been addicted to heroin. When he was confronted by the comedian Richard Lewis who almost killed himself with his addiction to booze, Lange admitted that he knew he was killing himself.

Yet the addictions that tear us apart are often the very things that keep us excited about being alive.

Why are we drawn to the very things that can ultimately cause absolute destruction?

Thankfully, I became addicted to my family, my dogs, the Yankees, writing, reading, and Springsteen.

Over the years I have been able - mostly - to substitute my healthy addictions for my not-so-healthy ones, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for the people who fail to keep their head above water.

Admit it - you're addicted to something that can tear you apart.

Do yourself a favor, stay on top of it, or you'll end up like Pacman, Duchovney or millions before who had to beg to get back into the good graces of those they love.

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