SiriusXM.
I felt I needed it to help me get through trips to and back from work. I always listened to comedy stations and nothing else, because the music resembled nothing I hadn’t heard before on repeat through retail stores and FM radio. When I couldn’t afford SiriusXM, I downloaded a podcast app that seemingly worked without needing a data plan or a subscription (I know the episodes are probably downloaded ahead of time on wi-fi). With this, I felt I don’t need Sirius anymore.
Monster Javas
I was an addict and still a recovering addict of this drink. It’s the only Monster-related beverage I always had, never caring for the other flavors. For a while, starting back about seven some odd years ago, I drank a can and I felt energized. Then as time went on, it turned into just a drink I’d have for the sake of comfortedness, because it was no longer doing anything for me anymore. Plus it was burning a hole in my budgeting because cans of these weren’t exactly cheap on their own.
After being off from a single can after three weeks, I actually felt a lot better. Probably not going to get back into them.
People.
Meat. I was a huge meat lover most of my life, until I decided to try going without it. I didnt think it would be easy so I thought I needed a smooth transition. Turned out I could cold turkey no problem.
Cold turkey is still meat dude.
Oh sh…
Facebook messenger. I was afraid people wouldn’t want to deal with using other chat apps, etc. DM’d everyone I knew with “Hey I’m leaving Facebook, I have XMPP, Signal, texting, and email, lemme know which one you want” and most people were fine giving me their phone number.
Turns out most people don’t care.
Money, home, family. Nice to have. Apparently not essential.
Diogenes?!
One day around 7 years ago I turned off the radio in my truck and I never turned it back on. I just sit in silence and I honestly prefer it that way.
Edit: to elaborate a little: I consider it almost like a meditative practice. I drive virtually every day, so this way I can quite easily force what I consider to be a healthy near-daily habit.
I do the same thing with my phone whenever I’m queuing.
I love this.
I am the same way… I am more entertained in my own thoughts. People think I’m weird but the voices tell me they’re the weird ones.
Oooh, we’re hearing the same voices!
I have no self-control (to put it one way), so I constantly do what’s bad for me. But I also feel more clear-headed listening to no music. However, sometimes it’s good to broaden the horizons and such. But then I don’t know when/how to stop.
Honestly, just shelter, food, water, space and air to breathe would be enough for me to be happy. As long as there are no constant goddamned intruders!
I too hear all the sounds much more clearly now. Some of them sound quite expensive.
Heroic
facebook, reddit, twitter, livejournal, aol instant messenger…
Alcohol. Turns out I don’t need it to be social, I was just using it to self-medicate myself into extroversion. I’ve wasted so many nights of partying, drinking too much and not being able to remember the fun times I had (or didn’t have).
Nicotine.
Once I switched from smoking to vaping, I could just leave my vape at home and be perfectly fine. I do get anxious if I forget it at home, but that’s mostly because I don’t want the pets to have access to it.
But it’s nothing for me to go on a 3 day camping trip or something without it. I still do it because it helps a small amount with ADHD, but I know I don’t need it.
I had the same experience and my takeaway was the nicotine isn’t the demon they’re making it out to be; it’s all the other crap they put in cigarettes.
By itself nicotine is less harmful and physically addictive than caffeine. It’s really not far from caffeine in mental addiction either, but it’s short elimination halflife doesn’t do it any favors.
I make my own eliquid, so I don’t have to worry about the health risks of flavors, and vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol safe to inhale (I use temperature control to prevent the coil from getting hot enough to degrade the VG)
Cable TV, left it many years ago, what a waste if money it was for mostly poor quality shows and tons of commercials.
Sex.
So much time, money, and effort wasted that I wish I could have back.
Constant companionship.
I have survived two long-term relationships now, the first left me traumatized and in dire need of treatment. The second one I chose to end while I still had my sanity intact.
It’s no doubt that I chose poor quality people, but even so, I have a new, lasting appreciation for solitude, having my own space that I don’t need to share, and the inner peace that allows me.
I was in a relationship from 18 to 34. Now, for the first time in my entire adult life, I’m single instead of jumping straight into the next one.
No doubt there are things I miss about being in a relationship - and I still probably lean toward that being the ideal setup - but relationships have downsides too, just like being single has upsides.
I’m not sure what the final tally of that equation looks like, but every now and then I catch myself wondering whether I even need to be in a relationship at all. I spent most of my childhood practicing playing alone, and I got pretty damn good at it.
My phone.
I broke the screen and had to deal without it for a week. I didn’t realize how often I’d flip it out and start scrolling every moment of downtime I had until I couldn’t do that anymore.
After a few days of that I started to wonder what was so important to catch up on every 15 minutes.
Alcohol
Discord.
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