All the world is a buffet, and I am a diabetic seated at the sweet table! Over the weekend, friends and I decided to pay a visit to a local bar that offers a taste of the northeast right in Miami Beach – dark wood, plumes of cigarette smoke, the wafting scent of fried food and an array of beers on draft (disgusting, now that I think about it!).

I have been very sensitive about the bar scene lately while someone close to me is making the effort to abstain from alcohol. Bars are not the first venue of choice when making plans with a recovering alcoholic, but non-alcoholic options do ease the burden. Let's face it – in America, there are at least 2 bars for every Starbucks and at least 2 fast food restaurants for every bar. Much to my chagrin, last night's local watering hole offered no such non-alcoholic options. Beer or bust!

Unrealistic expectations plague me. "Before" and "after" characterize advertisements for personal transformation. What happened to "during"? Where did "moderation" go? Come to think of it, I never saw an ad for "moderation". How decidedly unglamorous!

I am still grappling with the concept of "moderation". As an overweight young man sporting size 42 pants, I sought to become a 38. I acquired no transition wardrobe and the weight melted. In a size 32, I wanted to wear size 28. I wanted to be extra-small. I wanted to look at life from both sides.

I have a remarkable memory. Remarkably, I don’t recall any of my childhood peers declaring “I want to go into sales when I grow up!” Somehow, the childhood desire to become a realtor is never a fantasy; neither is bearing the real estate of an overweight adulthood. These things just seem to happen while we’re busy making plans in life.

Addictions come easy. Addictions die hard.

There are commonalities in all of them – food, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol – they are different means of coping with a similar end result. Our addictions divert us from our emotions, our substances offer sustenance – they are reliable, easily available (or we ensure that they are), and they never let us down. However, our reliance upon them does. We let ourselves down, and the best pick-me-up is that next slice of cake or pint of beer that can extinguish the fire within.