Your Lucky Stars
HOT TOPIC
"Vices MUST Always Stay 'Complementary' "
>This is kind of an adult discussion, so feel free to go to another room if you aren't making sense of the issue...<
At least a couple times every year, friends and others sit around to discuss handling of leisure time habits.
Alcohol, smoking, and gambling stay too familiar to all of us. The average person thinks life would be boring without the vices; I've only encountered a couple adults that steered clear of all three, and whether they ever tried any is actually a mystery.
For anyone experiencing difficulties from indulging too much, to say "less is better" may ring a familiar chord. Truly, to stay involved with any or all always requires willpower ~ and lots of rules/parameters surround the whole experience. Many will argue the whole religious thing stands as a proper methodology for indulgence; sabbatical Sundays usually were put aside to be with family, and paved the way toward abstinence.
In democratic societies laws are lax, and it's up to the individual to partake with discretion. Most states allow liquor purchases on Sunday now, unlike 20 or so years ago.
It's unlikely our fellow man and woman will completely avoid those 3 vices. Therefore, enjoy at your own taste and pace! Yet, YLS isn't a place where folks make believe; here's a few notions that could lead to extra patience and understanding...
A) All vices have to be considered together, and the price tag must fit into your annual budget:
For a smoker to criticize a drinker shall only cloak the true issue at hand. All are done per an individual's preference, and most agree indulgence has to be kept within safe boundaries; all the vices carry setbacks, when folks don't recognize the line (into habit) has been crossed.
As long as health and well being aren't compromised, a sound judgement as to a vice's limit should be cost. The bigger picture is desirable here! To physically allot set amounts, for each and every vice, is THAT FIRST STEP to willpower/control. Many adults will go out on payday and spend what they feel is normal. Later, they see that monthly bills are in jeopardy of getting paid on time.
B) To a certain degree, all vices ought be done with friends and family:
Going it alone shall place you in the hands of strangers - to tell you a change is necessary. Besides, if you can't be yourself around family and friends likely you shouldn't get involved with vices.
C) 'C' is for complementary:
When all vices fit into your budget, and you're comfortable with which ones suit you, interactions between the three shall stay understood. It's very rare to see large groups of people partaking in all three vices at the same time; definitions regarding each get made simply by seeing which time frames offer you the most fun - at one or two simultaneously.
It's usually not fun speaking of rules, but every adult ends up creating parameters. They're for the best, and this will be your "R"outine! {..the next statement is an example} While dinnertime Monday through Saturday may find you enjoying a smoke right after, it's likely you'll skip it Sunday to have a bottle of wine - with dinner (shared with a date).
While it stands as a freedom, to choose about vices, look at income/investments as a rare commodity. Making a sound budget for the overall year shall be far better than trying to base affordability on one paycheck. Subtract all your living expenses from the full year of pay, to know that fun monies (for drinking, smoking, gambling, and assorted free spends) will BE there! Sadly, most individuals/families will have to split up left over money over their free spending money; bold choices may need to be made to limit one or all vices!
Your Lucky Stars stresses responsibility ~ and achievement via better preplanning! Let's all help one another do well in life ~ and make the most of our pastimes. . .
{post script: after the coronavirus many muse that those habits we partook beforehand shall be reconsidered - why not chart a course for 'better moderation'!}
