Friday
May162008
Addicted to change
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 11:42AM
My name is Eric Hacke, and I am addicted to change. I take almost any opportunity to change things about my life. I wake up at a different time everyday. Anywhere between 6:30am and 9:00am. I rather impulsively bought an Xbox 360, GTA 4, Halo 3, an extra controller, and the wireless adapter a week ago after having a conversation about console gaming with a friend.
by louder
In February I decided that I would get rid of my car and instead take the bus for an hour and a half each way to work. This was brought on by a couple of things, the main one being the cost of owning a car, and my desire to take public transit if there was an opportunity to do so. But I gave up after 3 months of paying for TTC, GO Transit, and a car because people repeatedly backed out of the deal.
by Steve'o
I bought a new laptop after my desktop failed to boot one day. Turned out I was able to fix the desktop with a $5 SATA cable replacement. Now I have two computers.
by dawpa2000
I recently decided that I'm going to get into web development. I know C programming, but I'd like to be able to freelance on the side and earn a little more cash to subsidize my implusive nature. So I'm in the process of learning XHTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL. In fact I've already got some web development work I will be doing for my parents company, and a larger job that I may be sharing with a friend.
by CalEvans
I often flirt with the idea of quitting my job and going back to school. To be honest the largest thing preventing me from doing that is not so much the idea of once again becoming a student, but the fact that I cannot decide whether I want to get an Art-based PhD, Science-based PhD, or an MBA.
by vasta
I've contemplated joining the military, working for an NGO or charity, moving to a foreign country with a different native language and starting over.
This is the way my mind works, and this is the way I live my life. That's why it comes as huge shock to me when I meet people who have the exact opposite approach. Those who attempt to reduce everything to a concrete routine where nothing changes and everything is predictable. A woman that works for my parents company recently told my mom in a very worried tone "Can you believe that groceries for my family this month cost me $43 more than the previous month?". How she could possibly know that it was exactly $43?. She proceeded to explain that she buys exactly the same food, of the same brands, on the same days, every month of the year and therefore is able to track her spending to the cent.
by SummerTX
That is just one example of a conservative approach to life, but how can anyone live like that? How can you strive to eliminate all variety from your life and condense it to a series of repetitive tasks? To the point where even the food you eat is as predictable as clockwork. In similar vein I know many people who have their lives planned out for the next 5-10 years, just working the same job, the same days, the same hours, so they can eventually retire and remove one more element of potential excitement from their lives.
by Enidanc
Some people critize my lifestyle. They can't understand what they perceve to be the reckless and haphazard way I make decisions. I don't know what I'm having for dinner tonight, I don't know what I'm doing this weekend, I don't know what hours I'll be at work next week, I couldn't tell you with any certainty that I would still be holding this job in 6 months, or where I will be living in a year. But I couldn't live any other way.
by static416
by louder
In February I decided that I would get rid of my car and instead take the bus for an hour and a half each way to work. This was brought on by a couple of things, the main one being the cost of owning a car, and my desire to take public transit if there was an opportunity to do so. But I gave up after 3 months of paying for TTC, GO Transit, and a car because people repeatedly backed out of the deal.
by Steve'o
I bought a new laptop after my desktop failed to boot one day. Turned out I was able to fix the desktop with a $5 SATA cable replacement. Now I have two computers.
by dawpa2000
I recently decided that I'm going to get into web development. I know C programming, but I'd like to be able to freelance on the side and earn a little more cash to subsidize my implusive nature. So I'm in the process of learning XHTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL. In fact I've already got some web development work I will be doing for my parents company, and a larger job that I may be sharing with a friend.
by CalEvans
I often flirt with the idea of quitting my job and going back to school. To be honest the largest thing preventing me from doing that is not so much the idea of once again becoming a student, but the fact that I cannot decide whether I want to get an Art-based PhD, Science-based PhD, or an MBA.
by vasta
I've contemplated joining the military, working for an NGO or charity, moving to a foreign country with a different native language and starting over.
This is the way my mind works, and this is the way I live my life. That's why it comes as huge shock to me when I meet people who have the exact opposite approach. Those who attempt to reduce everything to a concrete routine where nothing changes and everything is predictable. A woman that works for my parents company recently told my mom in a very worried tone "Can you believe that groceries for my family this month cost me $43 more than the previous month?". How she could possibly know that it was exactly $43?. She proceeded to explain that she buys exactly the same food, of the same brands, on the same days, every month of the year and therefore is able to track her spending to the cent.
by SummerTX
That is just one example of a conservative approach to life, but how can anyone live like that? How can you strive to eliminate all variety from your life and condense it to a series of repetitive tasks? To the point where even the food you eat is as predictable as clockwork. In similar vein I know many people who have their lives planned out for the next 5-10 years, just working the same job, the same days, the same hours, so they can eventually retire and remove one more element of potential excitement from their lives.
by Enidanc
Some people critize my lifestyle. They can't understand what they perceve to be the reckless and haphazard way I make decisions. I don't know what I'm having for dinner tonight, I don't know what I'm doing this weekend, I don't know what hours I'll be at work next week, I couldn't tell you with any certainty that I would still be holding this job in 6 months, or where I will be living in a year. But I couldn't live any other way.
by static416
Reader Comments (12)
I typed in "addicted to change" into google because it's becoming a huge problem in my life. I'm glad to know there are others out there who feel the same way. The problem occurs when one marries someone who is the opposite. He is spontaneous, but does not understand my need to change my surroundings, jobs, lifestyle, church, clothes, home, attitude, mind, etc. every so often. I'm not even sure why I need it so much. But, I can't just wake up tomorrow and move to a new state. I did that enough in my early twenties, even moving to a new continent as you mentioned. That got old after a year. See, the thing with us change lovers is that no matter what we "decide" upon as a possible future, we will undoubtedly become bored with it at some point. The only constant in our lives; change.
Yo. This is scary. I typed "addicted to change" in google one exact month after you, Jan 5th 2009. It has become a problem for me as well. Let me know if you figure out how to fix it, or live with it comfortably. (embrace it?) What kind of job are you supposed to get with that habit? consulting? who knows.
At the moment my plan to deal with this is to get a PhD and then a professorship at a university.
Hopefully that will allow me the sort of flexibility to be able to keep changing my focus and my interests without changing my job constantly.
The downside is going to be that I'll likely be poor for awhile before that happens, and likely make less money in the long run. But money has never been terribly important to me. As long as I have a nice place to live and friends to hang out with, everything else is gravy.
[...] have. It’s not that I fear change. Quite the opposite. I’ve previously talked about my addiction to change. What I fear is making the decision to change something, and then failing to meet the [...]
I also typed in "Addicted to Change" on google and I have a serious problem with it. I really wish I could be happy with consistancy but I can't be. The only things preventing me from changing is my repeated reassurance that it would be detrimental. I have an amazing great bf who is both really attractive and extremely nice, dedicated and loves me beyond reason. I KNOW that there couldnt be anyone better but a part of me...a significant part of me...is utterly bored and is dying to get away from this same individual. It's getting so i am not even attracted to him anymore. It's terrible.
And then comes my job. My background has me cut out perfectly to become a high paid (with a high work load) Immunologist. But what? I want my Phd yes but then again that is prolly me wanting change. Do I want to be an Immunologist? Yes. For like...some period of time that probably isn't at all reasonable (a year?). I want to deliver pizza, I want to be a mute Amish cook, I want to go to China and I want to go to Taiwan to get illegal animals. I want to know martial arts and freelance and draw and write and travel extensively. It is maddening. I want to be happy in my life but our world doesn't permit constant nonstop change.
I have a BS in Biology and over a year experence working as a Research Associate I. It's a good job. Much better than many others get at my level and if I stayed I could retire at 45 and be paid 40k/year for the rest of my life by the state. But I can't even consider that.
The best thing I can think of is trying to get my pHd and combining some sort of field bio and in-lab bio (to fit with my experience- i dont wanna waste it) but it is nearly impossible to find that. It's usually retarded (no offense but I have the education to do better than this) ecological water samping and 'population dynamics' in the field or chained-to-the lab hardcore experiments (which is great but even if I switch between Westerns, Fusions, ELISAs, HPLC and Maxipreps it isn't enough change for me and it involves no travel).
I need help either accepting stability (AND BEING HAPPY WITH IT) or finding a way to adjust to by excessive need for change. Honestly- I really wish I could select a stable career and be happy but I wish even more I could stay with my amazing bf and be happy. We do so many different things. We try planting and cooking and geocaching and skiing and biking...different things but they are all still not enough variation!
PLEASE PLEASE!! I really need help and advice. I am desperate for it. I'll do anything. Please!!
-LM
Wow, I never get to say this... 'I did the same that most of the others here did', I did a google search for 'addicted to change'. I was just curious if there were more people out there like me. Cool... there are. I'm not following some of the things I saw on some of the other sites. People were trying to figure out "how to get over it", "how to deal with it", "how to change", "how to become happy with 'everyday' life"... I don't understand. Why would anyone want to do that? I've never considered anything but embracing who I am, and I'm lovin' the heck out of my life! I work in the IT field, which is awesome because the second I'm bored of something, the industry changes. My love for change is what has led me to be as successful as I am in my work, something new comes along and I can learn it quickly, and I enjoy doing it. I've been going to college for quite a few years, but I have no degree. I keep changing majors. For now I'll just keep taking classes that sound like fun and someday I know they will start to total out to some degrees. I've lived in 25 states so far, I have no idea how many times I've moved. Everything I own fits in my car, and I'll always keep it that way... just in case. I play 17 instruments because as soon as I get the hang of one, I start on the next. I've worked in just about every field I can think of, and I've loved every job I've had. I would never dream of "overcoming" this part of me. I've lived more in my 30 years than should ever be possible in a lifetime. I would never want to develop a fear of change or trying new things. Life doesn't last long, and it is my belief that the only thing we will take with us when we go, are our memories. Not our status of staying with a job for 25 years, not the plots of TV shows we watched every night, not the cash stored away in a bank account that wasn't used to have fun.... we just take our memories, so we should make them good ones, right? I'm not rooted anywhere, I'm portable, I'm excited to wake up every day. If I get the urge to go somewhere, I can go. If I get the urge to taste somethign, I find it and taste it (charcoal will dry out your mouth by the way). If I want to see something, I go see it. How could anyone want to "cure" themselves of a life of no fear of change, change always leads to new, and new is always exciting. I am amazingly grateful for my addiction to change. I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who can see life for what it really has to offer. Thanks for existing everybody, keep on livin'!
~Kristy~
Most of what I find online talks about people being addicted to new gadgets and technology. It seems to miss the point that this addiction isn't about gadgets, but about change and new experiences and new puzzles to figure out. Does anyone know of any serious websites about this issue? Any serious research? This addiction has become a problem for me and is affecting my life negatively. I believe that I need help so I can be happy with my job and family. HELP!
I must say that I didn't think this would get this kind of response. This post is consistently one of the most popular ones.
Thanks for all the comments.
I agree with Kristy, I don't think that a desire for change is a bad thing at all. In fact I think it shows a lot about our society that so many people feel ashamed to want an exciting and dynamic life.
I'll definitely have to post again on this issue.
[...] is good A little over a year ago I wrote a post about being addicted to change. That post is consistently one of my most popular and receives the most emphatic comments. But [...]
Eric, you're so...so...so..."dynamic" is the word I'm looking for. Change is always good. One morning you might wake up and decide to spell your name "Xptc." Cool. Change your credit cards and every other service you have to reflect said change. Then change it to something else tomorrow. Change the way you change. Like instead of changing forwards, change backwards or sideways. Who knows? On a planet light years away in a galaxy unknown by humans, the number 5 might actually be 4. Does that change your perception of reality just a little? If it doesn't, you need to change the way you perceive, which all depends on how you perceive change. Chameleons are my favorite animal because they're always changing colors. Ubhdk boi cuelspquci ve couemp clusk chospejd. Voila! I just changed the way I spell words. Cool, huh? Keep on changing, Eric. Wait. It would be counter-productive to changing to "keep on" doing anything. So don't keep on changing. Wait. That's no good either because then you wouldn't be changing. Help! I'm stuck in a conundrum of ever-changing sameness due to my continual changing, which if continual, is not change but predictable sameness. Could I borrow some of your Prozac, Eric? Or have you changed meds recently?
Wow...I also typed in addicted to change in google. Proves we all have a lot in common. I'm a student, and thankfully I have never wanted to NOT be a student...at least I will be able to complete something, hopefully if I don't stop changing Universities.
I also don't think this is a bad thing. The only hard part is finding ways to cope--
For instance, when I change my mind about things--that will affect my life on a large scale, I have to explain to my family why I'm making such a radical change.
I have been a vegetarian, a vegan a non red-meat eater. I wanted to be an astronaut, a teacher and now a law student. I have lived in several different states and cities. I break up with people constantly because they are too boring--I know I will eventually find someone who will keep my interest so I am hopeful. These are all things that have happened in the last few years.
All it means is that I am actively looking to find the best way of living. I'm not ashamed at all, but it's always hard to tell my parents why I have so much to update them on when I just saw them last week. Things change quickly. I make up my mind quickly--but it's usually temporary.
I know it's not an ACTUALLY addiction because once I find the best thing for ME...i stop changing.
I haven't quite found the best place to live yet.
But I KNOW i want to go to law school, because there are so many things i can do with that degree.
**I actually am also planning on being a professor because of the flexible schedule and freedoms.
I could go on forever, because change is a defining characteristic of mine. I HONESTLY HAD NO IDEA THERE WERE MORE OUT THERE LIKE ME. It's such a relief.
I just read all of these comments after also Googling "addicted to change". I am 35 years old and several times in my life I have completely changed things. I changed my major three times in university, changed my sexuality (yes - straight to gay to bisexual), moved several times, changed jobs several times, I have already been married and divorced and owned and sold two houses, had many relationships, cheated on my partners, and recently broke up a long term relationship. While i like the roller coaster ride, frankly I am getting a bit tired of it all. I think it may be time to settle down. The thing is, I am afraid I won't be able to.
Thanks for making me realize I am not the only person out there like this and for letting me rant. I feel better :)