Hooked on Life

When most people think addiction, they think drugs, alcohol, maybe even shopping; however, there are a lot more things than substances our bodies can become addicted to, which is a problem considering us Americans tend to do the same things every day, we run on a schedule and it generally entails the same thing as the day before that, and even the day before that. The good thing is that "the fundamental difference between excessive enthusiasm and addiction is that healthy enthusiasms add to life whereas addiction takes away from it."- which is according to an article you can read here. What that means is, you become more dependent the more you do these addictive activities. Obviously, we aren't going to get addicted to going to school and doing homework; however when it becomes our daily routine it becomes our life. According to themastermindproject.com, "society teaches children what to fear and what to loathe. Children grow and become occupied with what seems 'cool' or 'accepted.' Words like 'practical' and 'reasonable' creep into their vocabulary." I believe that today, America is less of the land of opportunity, and more of the land of fitting in and doing what is as the website says, "reasonable".  Now people are told they can be anything they want, but are also told the statistical chances of them reaching the goal that seems unreachable- which is usually low.  One of America's most valued values is that of hard work for high reward.  The problem is that hard work doesn't seem like a good idea when you're told you have a low chance of getting where you want in life.  Why would you go above and beyond if you're told nothing will change?  In today's world it seems more and more like America's   idea of working your way to the top is changing to staying where you started.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I bet there are some opposing viewpoints.  What do you think?  Comment some ideas.