"Eat. Pray. Love." Addiction

I was just standing in my bathroom thinking to myself (and actually not aloud which will surprise you if you know me at all) about Liz. Before you call me crazy because I think about characters (who happen to be real this time around) from the book I’m reading in my spare time, consider what I’m saying here. I was pondering (because that sounds like it has more depth than just thinking which could be a good change for me) a comment that Elizabeth Gilbert makes about David in her book. David is the guy that she falls unabashedly into the arms of right after she declares that she wants/needs a divorce from her husband. There is nothing about this story that I can truly identify with. I have not gone through a divorce. For Heaven’s sake, I have not even been married…. And that would lead me to saying that I also have not fallen crazy in love with someone in the process of getting divorced because neither a marriage nor a divorce has taken place in my life. In her writing and talk of David, she boldly makes this statement, “The fact is, I had become addicted to David… and now that his attention was wavering, I was suffering the easily foreseeable consequences. Addiction is the hallmark of every infatuation-based love story.” (p. 20) Addicted to a guy? Is that possible? How shallow do you have to be to be addicted to a guy? Do you have to be shallow at all? Is it actually something that happens to everyone at some point? More importantly, because this blog is about me (and I am currently feeling a little shallow and possibly a little arrogant)… have I been addicted to a guy? (and because I am quite dramatic, it would be more like “HAVE I (me, myself, I) EVER, EVER, ever in my entire life possibly EVER been addicted to a guy?!!??)

What if I just ended the blog there? I laugh as I type that because I would actually tell a person who would make a choice similar that I may end up punching them. (On that note, I have to say that Michelle from last season of the ABC show “The Bachelor,” featuring Brad Womack as the bachelor, actually was hilarious for me because she commonly made statements like this.) I think the answer is I am addictive. I have more than likely been addicted to a guy in my life, more than likely more than one. I actually have quite an addictive personality. I will insert a list here of things that I am currently addicted to:

Love of people, things, Jesus
Pei Wei Honey Seared Chicken and Crab Wontons
Panera Caesar salads
Chai Tea (not homemade though, I cannot figure out this homemade crap)
Books (mostly memoirs)
Movies about social justice
The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Romantic comedies
Baked White Cheddar Cheetos
Dr. Pepper
Twitter
Staring at people and making up stories about their lives especially if I don’t know anything about them
Talking to myself
Frozen Yogurt: preferably cheesecake flavor with Reese’s topping

That’s just to name a few. If you were honest (because clearly that’s one of the things I do best), you would probably be able to list as many, if not more, things that you are addicted to. I don’t think an addiction is always something that you just can’t live without. We think of an addiction in relation to an alcoholic or a drug-addict. That’s not always the case. Our addictions are almost like secret love affairs that break the very heart of God when our addiction is not Him and Him alone. My addictions are mostly shallow. They will never change the world or my world and therefore, I should not spend a lot of time feeding these addictions, yet I do on a daily basis. Liz spent so much time with David that she had become infatuated and addicted, and ultimately (whether you believe it or not) fell in love with him. Now is it wrong to fall in love with someone? Oh, I think definitely not and I’m hoping that I get the opportunity to take that risk at some point in my life. Until then, I must focus my sole attention and heartbeat on Jesus alone. The words of “How He Loves Us” come to mind when it says, “He is jealous for me. Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree.” The God of the universe has sent His only Son to be a sacrifice to prove His love for us. He asked that we become addicted, consumed, and more than infatuated with Him. He desires our very being and life, more than we could ever offer or possibly give. He asks for it all, and to truly give up everything for something, I think that could be considered an addiction.

May you become completely addicted and fall completely head over heels in love with God, who loves you more than you could ever fathom or imagine and more than we could ever dream.
Letting go of my shallowness for His glory-Melis

P.S.—I think I’m becoming addicted to blogging lately too ;)