A dozen or more years ago, one of my friends said something that really caught my attention. We were at her apartment pool hanging out with a few other friends, two of which were discussing their previous weekend using psychedelic mushrooms. Conversation turned towards other drugs. And my friend mentioned some of her previous experimentations with various substances.
“The only one I haven’t done is cocaine,” she said. “I just know that I’d like it too much.”
I’d like it too much
I had never considered that notion before. Sure, I knew about addiction, and there was certainly an illicitness with drugs that appealed to many (though not me).
But I was impressed by her self awareness and restraint.
Why try something if you think you could go overboard with it?
It was a concept you could apply to a whole slew of possible life activities—not just addictive substances.
Think you might fall into the multi-player video game trap and not leave your basement for three days? Maybe that’s something you don’t have to try, no matter how popular it otherwise is.
Worried that you’ll enjoy high-end bourbon a little too much? Maybe just stick with the cheaper stuff that doesn’t go down quite as easy. A little friction between you and excessive drinking isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Do you love the thrill of sports and love the thrill of the casino? Perhaps you shouldn’t download that sports betting app all your friends now have, even if it comes with all that “free money.”
This isn’t about depriving yourself of something you could enjoy—there’s plenty of fun stuff to do, after all—but about making an intentional decision to avoid things that might, well…deprive you of other parts of your life that you may value even more.
Her sentence is often on my mind when I approach new things.