Enjoy Your Vice(s)

Photo by Emily Rudolph on Unsplash

David Lee Roth once said (and I’m liberally paraphrasing) that he’d taken the time to distill his vices down to a select few and that he was determined to spend his time getting the most out of the handful that remained. 

It was one of those classic interview moments meant to both charm and disarm the interviewer but, as was often the case with Diamond Dave, there’s always a subtext. 

His point, I think, was that we’re too often caught between the ideal and reality. 

We spend a lot of time worrying about our vices and whether they’re good or bad for us. We agonize over how best to curb them, and control the instincts that give rise to them. 

But the reality is that we’re human and we’re fallible. And like it or not, our vices are part and parcel of who we are. Why are we struggling against our own fundamental nature?

Of course, some vices are worse for us than others. Some do us material harm - and we should do whatever we can to stop those. But others aren’t. (It’s up to us to make that distinction.)

So there’s no point getting overly worked up about the fact that we’re human. Distill out the ones that do real damage, curb and control whatever you can. 

But then, for the few that remain, focus in on those and - gasp - enjoy them. Certainly, we need to enjoy them responsibly, but do enjoy them. 

Life’s too short to not have a few really good vices.