Power addiction help! (description has more info)

Recently I got hooked on Camel cigarettes, and recently i've been able to handle my addiction, but I have a power addiction (like being a powerful person). I do this by getting in my friends Audi A5 with tainted windows, and tempting other drivers with my cigarettes, and we have been getting in trouble, and I want it to stop! BASICALLY, I'm saying that I've been getting to much power and control over people, and I want it to stop because I believe I am turning into a totally different person!

So you have been showing off a lot and you want it to stop? And by you showing off, you've been able to control people and you've become a powerful person. Am I right?

OK, I'm NOT a mean or materialistic person, but I think some bubble bursting will help.

There is ALWAYS someone who is more powerful than you! Someone who looks at what you call power and laughs. Someone who has more access, more connections, more money, more property, more cars, more jewelry, more stock, more "people," more EVERYTHING than what you have. And someone who thinks what you have is a JOKE. That's true no matter how much you have or think you have.

Showing off with someone else's car is just stupid. And an A5? Please. Those cost less than $40k USD. You're not even borrowing an A8 or R8. Dude, there's a Honda minivan that costs more than a little A5... and it's not even yours! Get some perspective. We got a Q7 for my in-laws and nanny to drive around our little boy. Even though we bought it pre-owned, my kid's car cost way more than that A5.

We can afford to buy anything we want, but still, we're frugal and private. No one knows what we have, and we like it that way. We're very fortunate, but there are many, many people who would look at what we have and say we don't have $hit, and they'd be right. If Bill Gates woke up and ONLY had the amount of money that we have, he might jump off a bridge or something. Oprah Winfrey would be devastated if she work up and only had my bank account.

You don't know what power is.

Manipulation is not power. Force is not power. Intimidation is not power. Bravado is not power. Knowledge is power. Kindness is power. Character is power. Generosity is power. Justice is power. Compassion is power. Patience is power.

Consider this: Margaret Thatcher said, "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." The thing you seem not to understand about power is that the less you use it, the more you have.

9 times out of 10, the loudest person in the room is usually the weakest. If you really want to get your behavior together before this goes any farther, I think you need to understand what you're over-compensating for... some emotional need you're trying to fulfill... somehow, you're trying to make yourself feel better... something like that. Figure out what that is and deal with it.

Remember, you ARE vulnerable. Everyone is vulnerable. Ayn Rand said, "Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice."

And on top of all of that, we still get old and sick and die. No amount of power or wealth can stop death.

Hope this helps. I'm not trying to make you feel bad... I'm trying to give you perspective.

It's so much better to use power to help people, not hurt them.

Camel Cigarettes are really good! But you can't use them and cars to look cool and intimidate people! Good luck.