Addiction or obsession?

There is a common theme in runners - we're obsessive about it. I always read about how once a runner participates in his first half-marathon or marathon, he becomes addicted. That race turns into another race which turns into another and so on and so on until it becomes a 50K or ultra-marathon. A runner is always looking to improve his time or for a new challenge or to just keep running. When an injury or some other unforeseen incident ensues, the wanting becomes a need and without being able to do what you love, it can cause anxiety, depression and other negative feelings.
I know this feeling all too well. When I was heavy into running up until last year, I could not go a day without it. If I did, I had symptoms similar to PMS. And if I did not get the same amount of miles in as I did the day before, it wasn't complete. My husband knew that if I had not gone running that day, he better stay out of the way. But I did everything possible to make sure that did not happen, including 4:30 am wake-up calls, two half-hour sessions per day in order to get the mileage in, and would sometimes make excuses to leave work early just to ensure I'd get that run in that day. It was an addiction and even though it was running, any addiction is unhealthy.
Last year I was forced (coerced?) to give it a rest for a bit or at least cut back. It was tough. But once I went a few weeks without it and the negative feelings dissipated, it became an all or nothing type of thing. If I couldn't run, then why not just sit on my ass and eat chocolate and drink champagne like a champion? Which is exactly what I did instead. Also, not the healthiest. So where's the balance?
Now that I am able to run again and have experienced both ends of the spectrum, I still crave running, but going a day or two without it does not cause me anxiety or irritability. Three days without it may be pushing it a bit, but hey, it's progress. Sometimes though, that obsession still creeps in -like the other day when I found myself constantly thinking about running and ended up spending an hour googling half marathons in my area taking place in the next few months. (And coincidentally I found one involving chocolate and champagne! Talk about a win-win!) I have not registered for it mainly because my hip is being a little b* (hey, I've got moms and dads reading this!) and maybe also because it is in February and I was complaining about the October marathon weather, but I cannot stop thinking about it.

What healthy/unhealthy thing are you obsessed with? (It's cool to get personal because it's not like anyone is reading this anyway. Side note- you get some crazy things that pop up when you google "intervention" images. This was the only relevant one.)

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