Thank you again, everyone, for the thoughts. Here's something I'm pondering that will probably ruffle feathers . . . maybe I'm a dressaholic, and there's no healthy way to incorporate this into my life.
The reasoning I use sometimes goes like this: If there is a desire or part of my personality that I cannot change, then it is futile to try to be happy while suppressing it. It is futile because that desire or part of me will ALWAYS be knocking at the door, wanting in. Ignoring or denying it will just make me miserable. There has to be some non-obsessive way to include that desire or part of my personality in my life on a normal, day-to-day basis. And my loved ones should understand and accept this part of me.
Now, before you say "Amen!", isn't this the same reasoning that some alcoholics use? So, I worry that when I think this way, I am just like the alcoholic in denial. Alcoholism counselors don't suggest "working it in to your life," they suggest complete abstinence from alcohol, because there is no healthy way to "work it in". We all agree that there's nothing "wrong", per se, with alcohol or drinking. But *some* people have to abstain because there is something in them that goes bananas when they drink.
So, is dressaholism possible? Could there be some people who simply shouldn't do it, no matter how strong the desire is?
Just a thought.
So, you might be saying, "but alcoholism is destructive, and dressing isn't -- that's the difference." But the dressing is
