Addiction and Deep Engagement

What is the real difference between addiction and deep engagement?
Only you can truly tell. Both demand enormous amounts of time and devotion.
But perhaps the dividing line lies in whether love for yourself is present.
If you feel resentment or guilt about being consumed by something, that is addiction.
If the same pursuit makes you love yourself more and builds inner pride, that is deep engagement.

We say gambling addiction, not gambling engagement.
Drug addiction, alcohol addiction, smoking addiction—none of these are engagement.
On the other hand, when you lose yourself in reading, exercise, meditation, prayer, or service, we don’t call it addiction.
In this one lifetime, it is meaningful to reduce the number of things we call addictions,
and increase the number of things we honor as deep engagements.