Sunday, May 01, 2005

Persistent, Stubborn, or OCD?

Between January 27th, 2005, and April 24th, 2005 (88 days), I found at least one Geocache every single day. At first, I was going out every day simply because it was fun. Then, I did it because I thought it would be fun to do it every day for a full month. Then it was just part of my daily routine. But somewhere along the way, I started feeling like I had to find at least one cache per day. It took me a while to admit it, but I couldn't deny that my Geocaching streak was starting to own me. Sure, there are worse things that can own a person, but it got me thinking about how easily a person can let even a simple and enjoyable hobby turn into an obsession. The streak was broken on a day that involved a few failed searches and an eventual loss of sunlight. It stung a little at first, but now the monkey is off my back, and I'm back to Geocaching only when I want to. Have you ever let something get out of hand like this? Let me know. I'm curious.